London taxis, scooter fleet powered by UK’s first hydrogen station network
London taxis, scooter fleet powered by UK’s first hydrogen station network
31 October 2011
A new project in London will see an additional hydrogen fueling station to support 15 fuel cell powered black cabs (taxis) and five fuel cell Suzuki Bergmann scooters carrying passengers around the city, in time for the London 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics.
The HyTEC (Hydrogen Transport for European Cities) project, which is part-funded by the European Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU), will see the installation of an extra Air Products hydrogen fueling station.
This new station will join with the two existing hydrogen stations that support London’s fuel cell bus fleet. This creates an initial infrastructure network across the capital to power hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, in time for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games next summer.
The addition of fuel cell taxis and fuel cell scooters to the existing fuel cell bus fleet will allow Londoners to experience the benefits of hydrogen as a transport fuel. Fuel cell vehicles offer the same range, speed, and fueling time as conventional fuels, with the added benefit of zero emissions at the point-of-use.
‘This supports my drive to promote the uptake of cleaner vehicles such as electric cars and the new fleet of hydrogen buses running in London, which is setting industry standards,’ says the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, who has given his full support to the project.
The industry-led HyTEC project utilizes the hydrogen transport experience and knowledge of 16 companies from across Europe, who are leading the development of hydrogen technology and infrastructure. In an effort to understand the best methods for rolling out hydrogen transportation in European cities, this international initiative will also install a network of hydrogen fueling stations in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The 16 members of the HyTEC consortium represent five European countries. Half of them are in the UK: Air Products, Element Energy, LTI Vehicles, the Centre of excellence for low carbon and fuel cell technologies (CENEX), theGreater London Authority, Intelligent Energy, airports operator BAA, and London Bus Services.
Denmark is represented by Copenhagen Hydrogen Network, the City of Copenhagen, and Hydrogen Link Denmark, while the German partners arehySOLUTIONS GmbH, the consultancy LBST, and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. Also involved are HyRaMP (the European Regions and Municipalities Partnership for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells) in Belgium, and MATGAS 2000 AIE in Spain, a centre of excellence for research and development of materials and gases.
