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CARB and ARB Issue Report on 2018 Annual Assessment of Progress to Attain 100 Hydrogen Refueling Stations in California

By January 3, 2019 4   min read  (688 words)

January 3, 2019 |

CARB Montage 3

The Joint Agency Staff Report on Assembly Bill 8: 2018 Annual Assessment of Time and Cost Needed to Attain 100 Hydrogen Refueling Stations in California (2018 Joint Report) is in accordance with Assembly Bill 8 (AB 8) (Perea, Chapter 401, Statutes of 2013). The 2018 Joint Report contains time and cost assessments for the network of publicly available hydrogen refueling stations to support the fuel cell electric vehicle market under the California Energy Commission’s Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program (ARFVTP).

As of December 21, 2018, 38 ARFVTP-funded retail stations selling hydrogen as a transportation fuel to the public, and another 26 stations are in development to become open retail, in California. The ARFVTP funded these 64 stations, which meet nearly two-thirds of the 100-station AB 8 milestone.

California has more than 5,000 fuel cell electric vehicles on its roads, and projections show more than 47,200 fuel cell electric vehicles by 2024 with estimated emissions reductions from these vehicles at nearly 76,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2024. ARFVTP has invested nearly $120 million, since 2010, to fund and support 64 hydrogen refueling stations to support the increasing FCEV market. The entire remaining hydrogen allocation of $20 million per year through the end of the AB 8 program remains needed to support economies of scale in station design and equipment to reach the 100-station goal by 2024. ARFVTP funding remains necessary to reach the established milestone of designing, constructing, and operating at least 100 hydrogen refueling stations by 2024, and to get on track to possibly reach the goal of 200 stations by 2025 established in 2018 by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.’s Executive Order B-48- 18. 

Key Takeaways

This report addresses hydrogen refueling station planning, design, development, and deployment.

• AB 8 directs the Energy Commission to allocate $20 million annually from the ARFVTP for hydrogen refueling stations until there are at least 100 stations in California.

• The ARFVTP funds the development of hydrogen refueling stations to support the FCEV market.

• The Energy Commission and CARB work to develop a station network that meets varied drivers’ needs and enables Californians to adopt FCEV technology seamlessly into their daily lives.

• Executive Order B-48-18 established new goals of 200 stations by 2025 and 5 million ZEVs by 2030 in California.

• LCFS HRI credits offer a new incentive to encourage private investment and accelerate station deployment.

• HRI credits provide support to station owners if station throughput is low in the early years of operation.

• The LCFS update provides opportunity to augment ARFVTP funds, leading to the potential to fund more stations.

• The LCFS update supports the ZEV infrastructure goals established by Executive Order B-48-18.

•  Combined with purchasing station equipment in larger quantities, the LCFS update may help achieve economies of scale.

• Hydrogen stakeholders are focused on scaling up infrastructure to meet the longer-term vision of “a network of 1,000 hydrogen stations and a fuel cell vehicle population of up to 1,000,000 vehicles by 2030.”

• California has 38 ARFVTP funded open retail stations.

• The total daily hydrogen refueling station network capacity increased from 15,000 to 17,000 kilograms in one year.

• The estimated greenhouse gas emissions reductions from hydrogen fuel displacing gasoline are nearly 76,000 metric tons of CO2e per year by 2024.

 • As of October 2018, 5,014 FCEVs are registered with the DMV.

• There are 5,658 FCEVs sold or leased in California as of December 1, 2018.

• CARB projects 47,200 FCEVs in California by 2024.

• The time spent before station developers filed an initial permit application decreased substantially due to critical milestone requirements. •

• By 2024, the station network will need to provide nearly double today’s funded fueling capacity.

• The full remaining ARFVTP funding allocations will be needed to meet and exceed the 100-station goal by 2024.

• CARB and the Energy Commission are working to identify conditions under which the hydrogen refueling market could be self-sufficient.

• The station count is 39 open retail and 26 in various development stages.

• Public support and public funding remain necessary to achieve the 100-station goal, and more funding will be needed to support the 200-station goal.

Citation for this report: Baronas, Jean, Gerhard Achtelik, et al. 2018. Joint Agency Staff Report on Assembly Bill 8: 2018 Annual Assessment of Time and Cost Needed to Attain 100 Hydrogen Refueling Stations in California. California Energy Commission and California Air Resources Board. Publication Number: CEC-600-2018-008

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