bp has opened what it calls Australia’s “first” hydrogen refueler at a Brisbane service station.
The oil and gas major revealed its Lytton service station, one of the busiest in Brisbane, welcomed the refueller as part of a pilot project in partnership with project lead BOC, and with support from the Queensland Government and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).
bp says the refueller has capacity to fill a hydrogen car with three to five minutes, with drivers able to use the station if they have signed up for access to hydrogen refuelling via bp’s plus card.
Hydrogen for the refueler is being supplied by BOC produced at its Bulwer Island site. bp has said, “Where green hydrogen is unavailable grey hydrogen will be used as a back-up source.”
The Queensland Government’s own fleet of Hyundai NEXO fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) were the first to use the new refueler.
“By working collaboratively with partners like BOC and the Queensland Government, we’re able to support customers as more hydrogen-powered vehicles start to hit the road,” said Amanda Woolard, Vice-President Marketing Asia-Pacific at bp.
Frédéric Baudry, President bp Australia and Senior Vice-President Fuels & Low-carbon Solutions, Asia-Pacific, added, “By safely integrating a hydrogen refuelling station into our service station network, we’re showing that existing infrastructure can be used to facilitate hydrogen passenger vehicles.”
In May (2023), bp completed the purchase of TravelCenters of America, acquiring 280 service centres in the US, which the company hopes will bring opportunities for it to offer EV charging, biofuels, renewable natural gas (RNG) and later hydrogen.
Binod Patwari, Managing Director of BOC South Pacific, said, “The successful integration of a hydrogen refuelling station at an existing service station has delivered key learnings that will pave the way for more hydrogen refuelling infrastructure across Australia’s service station network. Leveraging this existing infrastructure will be important to support the uptake of heavy transport, particularly on major freight routes across Australia.”
A recent report by CSIRO and GHD Advisory said Australia must focus on hydrogen-powered transport, “or risk being left behind.”
CSIRO and GHD stressed Australia must incorporate learning from overseas to expedite infrastructure development by incentivising international technology partnerships; develop the country’s hydrogen hubs strategy to incorporate more stakeholders in mobility projects; and have governments investigate the founding or supporting of sector consortia.
Extracted in full from: Hydrogen refueler opened at bp service station in Brisbane (h2-view.com)
