04 Mar 2020 | 12:10 UTC — London

Logan to open public hydrogen refuelling station near Edinburgh

Highlights

Pump price 'around GBP10/kg'

Own-funded station to promote FCEVs

Under 10 H2 refuelling stations in UK

Edinburgh-based Logan Energy is to open a first public hydrogen refuelling station in Scotland's Central Belt at its Wallyford facility near Musselburgh, the hydrogen energy company said Wednesday.

Hydrogen for the station would be produced by an electrolyser powered by the grid, with the pump price around GBP10/kg ($12.80/kg), Logan Energy told S&P Global Platts.

"Offering the only refuelling stop between Aberdeen and Sheffield, some 360 miles apart, Logan Energy's refuelling station will allow hydrogen-electric and dual-fuel vehicles to be refuelled to 350 bar," it said.

In late January, the company was selected to supply an electrolysis-based hydrogen refuelling station in Belfast to support the rollout of three hydrogen-fuelled double decker buses in the city.

The Wallyford station, less than a mile off the UK's longest road, the A1, "will offer safe, supervised fuelling by trained personnel during working hours," Logan said.

Logan is financing the station in a bid to expand the potential of hydrogen in Scotland, it said.

"Refuelling is often offered as a package alongside the deployment of a fleet of hydrogen vehicles but without a proper refuelling infrastructure in Scotland, it is hard to get the buy in for investment in hydrogen vehicles," Logan CEO Bill Ireland said.

Europe has 177 hydrogen refuelling stations, of which 87 are in Germany and 26 in France, according to H2Stations.org.

In the UK, hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles can refuel at Gatwick, Cobham, Beaconsfield, Swindon, Rainham and Rotherham.

Electrolysis-derived hydrogen fuel contracts in the UK typically have been priced around GBP10/kg in recent years, according to information from ITM Power.

In January, the Hydrogen Council put the cost of renewable hydrogen from electrolysis at around $6/kg. "Reducing this to $2.60/kg would help to achieve cost parity" with conventional fuels, it said.

Platts Tuesday assessed the cost of conventional hydrogen made from steam methane reforming at 1.2028/kg (Dutch month ahead, including capex and carbon).