The first hydrogen refuelling stations in Shell Hydrogen’s Project Neptune will open in 2022 in California, the company says.

The project will see the construction of 48 new and two upgraded hydrogen refuelling stations across California.

Vehicle manufacturer Hyundai Motor North America recently announced it is joining Shell’s project, which was launched earlier this year. Hyundai will grow sales in fuel cell vehicles to support Shell’s expanding hydrogen infrastructure.

“This bridges the ‘chicken and egg’ problem” Leighty, Shell

Automakers Toyota and Honda have also signed agreements to support the project. Project Neptune will receive $40mn in funding over five years from the state government’s California Energy Commission.

Shell’s 48 new fuelling stations will be built over five years throughout California, according to Wayne Leighty, the company’s hydrogen commercial manager for North America.

“The California [Low-Carbon Fuel Standard: LCFS] programme supports the creation of convenient hydrogen and public charging stations by providing crediting based on installed capacity of hydrogen stations and DC fast chargers,” he says.

“This bridges the ‘chicken and egg’ problem and helps incentivise new infrastructure and support market demand for lower-carbon fuels.”

Leighty notes that there are already more than 10,000 fuel cell vehicles in California and 50 fuel cell refuelling stations.  

The new and upgraded stations will have double the performance of Shell’s existing ones and will cater to vehicles up to Class 6.

As many as 127 hydrogen refuelling stations are in development in the state, according to the California Fuel Cell Partnership, a public-private partnership. Shell will use green hydrogen to supply the station.  

Low-carbon fuels

California’s aggressive LCFS programme, overseen by state agency the California Air Resources Board (Carb), encourages the production and use of low-carbon fuels. The standard is expressed in terms of the carbon intensity of fuels.

Hydrogen refuelling stations are eligible for credits under the programme, under which Shell is a regulated petroleum fuel producer and retailer and therefore has deficits and needs credits to comply.

Shell sees fuel cell electric vehicles as complementary to, rather than rivals with, battery electric vehicles, says Leighty. Because they are both electric, they have many shared manufactured components. However, fuel cell vehicles can be refuelled more quickly, and he notes that about half of households cannot charge an EV overnight because they do not have a driveway.

In mid-October, Carb released an analysis of California’s hydrogen fuelling network for passenger vehicles, concluding that, with the right funding, the network could operate without subsidies by 2030. 

The state has so far helped fund more than 170 refuelling stations. The report, the Hydrogen Station Network Self Sufficiency Analysis, released on 15 October, notes that the share of private industry investment has increased from 30pc to 70pc since 2017.

$40mn – Neptune funding from state of California

An additional $300mn of state funding is needed for a fully self-sufficient market, suggests the report. The share of private co-funding is expected to rise to 90pc by 2030, it concluded.

The fuel cell agreement between Hyundai and Shell comes on the back of a number of other announcements. In March 2021, the two firms signed a deal to expand collaboration on clean energy solutions.

And in September, Hyundai announced a 2040 hydrogen fuel cell plan. The group will become the first automaker to apply fuel cell systems to all commercial vehicle models by 2028, it said.

The group will also introduce 100kW and 200kW fuel cells in 2023 with costs being lowered by more than 50pc, total package volume reduced by 30pc and power output doubled, Hyundai says.

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Author: Ros Davidson