Air Products today announced it has been awarded a contract with India's University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES) to build the country's first solar powered renewable hydrogen fueling station. Air Products' hydrogen fueling technology and infrastructure will be part of a mass public transit bus fueling and vehicle demonstration program administered by UPES.
The station, which will generate hydrogen from solar energy via an electrolyzer and be located at the Solar Energy Centre near Delhi, is scheduled to be onstream in July 2013.
"The hydrogen generated at this station will be 100 percent renewable and illustrates both India's commitment to developing greener alternate energy sources and Air Products' hydrogen fueling capabilities. The UPES project will act as a springboard for many more opportunities in the automotive and telecommunication sectors in India," said Nigel Gibson, managing director - Air Products India. "Our customers are recognizing the capabilities of our local team in dealing with the complexities of the regulatory authorities to validate hydrogen as a fuel, and to provide the support they need to successfully execute these projects."
UPES is executing this project in collaboration with Indian Oil and it is entirely funded by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) of the Government of India. "Although this is a demonstration project, this will be a major stepping stone for India to move towards the hydrogen economy," says Dr. Niranjan Raje, former director of Indian Oil and the Principle Investigator for this project.
Once complete, the UPES project will mark the third Air Products hydrogen fueling station operating in India. Air Products India installed, and in January 2012 commissioned, a hydrogen fueling dispenser in Pragati Maiden, Delhi to serve a fleet of hydrogen powered auto rickshaws. The three-wheeled hydrogen-powered fleet transports visitors at the Pragati Maidan, where many large public exhibitions are held. Air Products was also a key player in the opening of India's first hydrogen fueling station several years ago at a research and development center in Faridabad, south of New Delhi.
Air Products, the leading global supplier of hydrogen to refineries to assist in producing cleaner burning transportation fuels, has vast experience in the hydrogen fueling industry. In fact, several sites today for certain hydrogen fueling applications are fueling at rates of over 75,000 refills per year. Use of the company's fueling technology is increasing and is over 500,000 hydrogen fills per year. The company has been involved in over 150 hydrogen fueling projects in the United States and 19 countries worldwide. Cars, trucks, vans, buses, scooters, forklifts, locomotives, planes, cell towers, material handling equipment, and even submarines have been fueled with trend-setting Air Products' technologies.
Air Products has more than 50 years of hydrogen experience and an extensive patent portfolio with over 50 patents in hydrogen dispensing technology. Air Products provides liquid and gaseous hydrogen and a variety of enabling devices and protocols for fuel dispensing at varied pressures. Hydrogen for these stations can be delivered to a site via truck or pipeline, produced by natural gas reformation, biomass conversion, or by electrolysis, including electrolysis that is solar and wind driven.