A consortium of companies with expertise in hydrogen transport infrastructure are to begin work on the three year LHNE (London Hydrogen Network Expansion) project, a government-backed initiative co-funded by the Technology Strategy Board to create the UK’s first hydrogen powered transport system across London and the South East.
The consortium, led by Air Products, will deliver a publicly accessible, state-of-the-art fast-fill 700 bar renewable hydrogen fuelling station network. LHNE will also deploy new hydrogen vehicles in London; including a number of Hyundai hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and Revolve hydrogen powered vans.
Creating this network is particularly important because the major car manufacturers have confirmed that the hydrogen vehicles available for purchase in the UK from 2014/15 require 700 bar fuelling systems. The LHNE project will upgrade the existing fuelling station located near Heathrow Airport to 700 bar and deliver a brand new fuelling station with this specification in London. In addition, the project will increase accessibility to the dual pressure fuelling station at Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire, and the Transport forLondon station in Stratford. These developments will create the first network of 700 bar fuelling stations in the UK, ready to meet an increasing demand for hydrogen fuel. The functionality of this network will then be proved by a fleet of hydrogen vans which will be operated by Commercial Group as part of their delivery network.
Diana Raine, Air Products, European Business Manager Hydrogen Energy, says: “The LHNE project will bring together all the components necessary to make hydrogen transport possible across London and the South East as we prepare for the arrival in the UK of commercially available hydrogen vehicles. We hope that this project will act as an exciting demonstration model to be replicated across the UK and Europe in years to come.”