By Germany recorded the highest addition of hydrogen refueling stations worldwide in 2018. Seventeen public hydrogen refueling stations became operational in 2018. This is the result of the 11th annual evaluation from H2stations.org, a website by Ludwig-Bölkow-Systemtechnik (LBST) and TÜV SÜD. With this, Germany boasts 60 public stations, making it the world’s second-largest network, surpassed only by Japan with 96 public stations. The USA followed in third place with 42 public stations. Worldwide, a total of 48 publicly accessible hydrogen refueling stations were commissioned last year. At the end of 2018, Germany had 60 hydrogen refueling stations that could be used like conventional gas stations. There are plans for an additional 38 stations at specific locations, 34 of which are through the industrial initiative H2 Mobility Germany. With four inaugurations in eastern Germany, 2018 marked another step towards a nationwide hydrogen infrastructure and thus a densification of hydrogen corridors from east to west and north to south in Europe, according to the analysis by H2 experts.
Significant Increases in Planning
Notable innovations in concrete expansion planning were also reported for the Netherlands (17 planned stations), France (12), Canada (7), South Korea (27), and China (18). However, the numbers only refer to stations for which specific cities have been named. In China, preliminary provincial plans lead to considerably higher numbers.
“Unlike in South Korea and Japan, where they are mostly car refueling stations, China is initially focusing on infrastructure expansion for fuel cell buses and small distribution trucks,” explain the authors.
Noteworthy are the increasing activities in the use of hydrogen as fuel for trucks. In addition to Hyundai and Nikola Motor, Toyota is also working on the development of fuel cell-powered trucks and their refueling infrastructure. A station designed for this purpose has already been put into operation in Southern California. In Europe, a fuel cell truck has been operating in Switzerland since 2016.
