Water, water everywhere

Aberdeen’s hydrogen car club trial, in which two Hyundai ix35 FCEVs were driven by more than 40 people, has been hailed a resounding success.

The trials form part of a wider plan to make Aberdeen a pioneering hydrogen city.

The world’s first car club trial of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles has been hailed a resounding success. Hyundai loaned Aberdeen’s newly-established Commonwheels car club two of its left-hand-drive fuel cell vehicles, with energy storage firm ITM Power providing a mobile hydrogen re-fuelling station to keep the cars running.

More than 40 people drove the two Hyundai SUVs, which emit only water, during the four day trial. Commonwheels saw a flurry of activity with the number of business and individuals enquiring about car club membership and signing up to it.

The left-hand vehicles were refuelled 18 times in total during the  trial, using hydrogen produced by the ITM Power station at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre.

Aberdeen City Council Leader Barney Crockett said: “This new technology is fascinating and has clearly caught the attention of the people of Aberdeen and businesses alike.

“The Hyundai cars were in great demand and ITM Power’s mobile refuelling station went a long way to dispel the myth that the infrastructure required to power this type of vehicle is years away.”   

Commonwheels Aberdeen development co-ordinator Tony Archer added: “Our experience with Hyundai cars has taught us that this is what we would be aiming for for the Commonwheels fleet.”

The Hyundai ix35 FCEV has been selected by the European Commission as the official demonstration vehicle to test and promote hydrogen fuel call technology in real-life driving conditions. The latest model boasts similar levels of convenience and performance to conventional internal combustion cars. Its hydrogen capacity gives it a driving range of 525km on a single fuelling.

Oslo to Monte Carlo
The Zero Emissions Resource Organisation (ZERO) has successfully driven two Hyundai iX35 fuel cell powered SUVs from Oslo to Monte Carlo, using only existing hydrogen filling stations for refuelling. The vehicles travelled from Gaustad in Oslo, via Denmark, Hamburg, Cologne, Karlsruhe and Freiburg in Germany and Sassenage in France, before arriving in Monte Carlo, and covered 2,260 km in the five with no support vehicles or mobile refuellers.

For most people hydrogen is not yet a practical option, as there is still a lack of fuelling stations. The creation of a hydrogen infrastructure is one of the challenges to the wider deployment of fuel cell vehicles, and in the UK this is currently being addressed by the UKH2Mobility programme.

As well as the benefits to the transport sector, hydrogen has a potentially vital role in the broader energy storage system – if it is generated from intermittent renewable electricity sources, such as wind turbines, it can be stored indefinitely and used for a variety of purposes including as a transport fuel, injection into the natural gas grid and used to generate electricity at times of peak demand.

Hydrogen Buses
Aberdeen City Council is supporting the multi-million pound Strategic European Hydrogen Transport Projects to introduce the hydrogen buses to the North-east and has secured £9.2m of EU funding, committed to invest £2m and will secure a further £9.3m from project partners. The expectation is that the projects will stimulate further innovative hydrogen technology projects and high-level investment in the area, realising Aberdeen’s aspirations to becoming a world-leading hydrogen city.

The project will see up to a dozen buses operating in the North-east. The fleet, which will operate on routes into central Aberdeen, will be the largest in any European city. The buses will be refuelled at Scotland’s first large hydrogen refuelling station, which will supply locally generated gas and be able to refuel hydrogen-powered cars as they become available.

The strategic projects provide the opportunity to create new industry and greater choice in energy production and usage, as well as enabling the development of a hydrogen strategy for the Energetica Development Corridor -  an ambitious plan to create a new generation energy community stretching north from Aberdeen’s Bridge of Don area to Peterhead and west to the airport.

Further information
Zero Emission Resource Organisation - tinyurl.com/d96wll8
UKH2Mobility programme  - tinyurl.com/bvnd82m
Energetica - www.energetica.uk.com
ITM Power - www.itm-power.com