Energy and automotive companies release position paper on Next Steps for the Development of a Hydrogen Infrastructure for Road Transport in Europe

Energy companies Shell Hydrogen B.V. and Total France as well as automotive companies BMW Group, DaimlerChrysler AG, Ford Motor Company, General Motors Europe AG, MAN Nutzfahrzeuge AG and Volkswagen AG have issued today a common position paper on "Next Steps for the Development of a Hydrogen Infrastructure for Road Transport in Europe".

According to the paper, special attention by governments, OEMs and the energy sector has been given over the last few years to the introduction of hydrogen as a fuel for road transport. What is needed now is a concrete near- and mid-term action plan to ensure that development and deployment of hydrogen vehicles and infrastructure in Europe will progress in an aligned way and more quickly in order to allow the beginning of commercialization of hydrogen vehicles around 2015 (or earlier).

The paper describes the companies' anticipation that the further roll-out of hydrogen vehicles will happen in 3 phases:

• Phase I until 2010: Technology Development and Cost Reduction: Bundling of hydrogen demand for cars to one pilot region in Europe for testing higher volumes of cars.
• Phase II from 2010 to approx. 2015: Pre-commercial Technology Refinement and Market Preparation: Hydrogen refuelling station infrastructure (700 bar CGH2 and LH2) of sufficient density for cars (publicly accessible and integrated into conventional stations) in one European pilot region and for city buses in a few selected European cities/regions.
• Phase III starting around 2015: Commercialisation: Ramp-up of production leading to mass production within at least 10 years for every OEM.

The paper describes criteria for the selection of demonstration sites, and identifies promising regions for vehicle deployment and corresponding infrastructure build-up prior to commercialization.

The paper emphasizes that contributions from additional vehicle manufacturers and infrastructure suppliers are welcome. This should happen on the assumption that the overall goals outlined in the paper are accepted and a short-term return of investment during these pre-commercial technology and market preparation phases is not anticipated, but is the “cost-of-entry” to jointly determine the commercial viability of hydrogen-fuelled vehicles. Any plans are still in the development phase and no decision has been taken at present on any further specific joint initiatives. Any implementation of such initiatives, including the roll out of joint sites, will be subject to competition law compliance, the paper specifies.

Source: Fuel Cell Today