It’s a hydrogen refueling station devoted to industrial H2 vans.
At first look this won’t sound very like a significant feat, contemplating this isn’t the primary hydrogen station the California-based firm has opened. Nevertheless, what makes this FirstElement Gasoline (FEF) station exceptionally important is that it’s the primary certainly one of its sort in America to service industrial vans powered by hydrogen.
It additionally boasts a world first.
Past being a primary for the US, the hydrogen station options the primary heavy-duty truck H70 fast-fill lane on this planet, designed to supply environment friendly H2 refueling.
Another excuse this isn’t a mean hydrogen station is that its capability is over 10 instances the capability of any of FEF’s earlier stations. In line with FEF, the H2 refueling station – situated in a strategic location simply exterior the Port of Oakland, California – can fill a truck’s hydrogen tanks in ten minutes (per 80kg fill). This enables it to fill about 200 vans each day, because of its two heavy-duty pumps.
Moreover, the station is provided with 4 light- and medium-duty pumps to serve California’s H2 passenger automobile market.
The brand new hydrogen station is the results of a joint effort.
The station is a part of a state-funding NorCal Zero undertaking that was developed along with Hyundai Motor Firm and the Heart for Transportation and the Atmosphere. Funding for the undertaking got here from the California Vitality Fee and the California Air Assets Board.
Past serving Hyundai XCIENT H2 vans, FEF additionally has a partnership with Nikola that may enable Nikola prospects to entry fueling companies on the new stations as nicely.
A next-gen cryopump is within the station’s future.
Presently, the hydrogen station on the Port of Oakland makes use of a cryopump, which converts liquid hydrogen into chilly, compressed H2 in a single stage. By way of a partnership with Bosch Rexroth, FirstElement Gasoline plans to retrofit the station with Bosch’s next-generation cryopump, which is ready to dispense a formidable 100kg in 10 minutes.
FEF is among the many prime GreenTech corporations within the US.
No less than, it’s in keeping with Time Journal, the place it recently ranked 36th out of the 250 American corporations that made the information journal’s inaugural listing of “America’s Top GreenTech Companies of 2024”.
What’s extra, FirstElement Fuel isn’t solely a frontrunner in inexperienced expertise, it additionally claims to be a world chief in hydrogen stations, with services ranging throughout California. Presently, it has over 40 retail light-duty stations all through the state and plans to proceed dominating the hydrogen refueling options area by growing extra stations to serve hydrogen-powered heavy-duty vans.
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