Three-Year Test of Hydrogen Filling Service to Start at Two Service Stations in 2013

Copyright JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp.

JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp., a major Japanese oil wholesale company, announced on June 20, 2012, that it will launch a demonstration test of operating a gas service station where hydrogen filling equipment is installed next to existing gasoline dispenser. The test is part of a plan toward widely establishing hydrogen supply infrastructure for fuel cell vehicles.

The test will be conducted at two gas stations: the Dr. Drive Ebina Chuo Station in Ebina City, Kanagawa Prefecture and the Dr. Drive Kaminokura Station in the city of Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. The hydrogen supply system to be tested is a packaged type of equipment that includes a compressor and high pressure gas storage composite tanks, which the company developed with the aim of designing hydrogen filling equipment that is smaller, saves space, and is less expensive than existing ones. The system's supply capacity is 300 normal cubic meters per hour (Nm3/hr), with a fill pressure of 70 megapascals (MPa) at the Ebina Central Station and 100 Nm3/hr with 70 MPa at the Kaminokura Station.

Testing will be conducted from February 2013 through March 2016 by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), the Research Association of Hydrogen Supply Utilization Technology (Hysut) and JX. The goals are to verify the functioning of the package-type of hydrogen supply system, the cost-cutting effects of the new technologies developed, the review of existing regulations, and verification of smooth service station operation. The company intends to demonstrate that it can pump up to 70 MPa in the same time it takes to fill a vehicle tank with gasoline. It also intends to clear up the safety management issues related to operating a service station where staff do the work of filling vehicle tanks with hydrogen while the gas pump side is self-serve.

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