Uno-X, NEL Joint Venture To Build Hydrogen Refuelling Stations With Hydrogen Produced From Solar And Surplus Renewable Energy
- Published: Friday, 01 April 2016
- Author: Daily News
OSLO, Norway -- NEL ASA, through its subsidiaries NEL Hydrogen AS and H2 Logic A/S, has been awarded a contract of approximately NOK 25 million for the delivery of a hydrogen refuelling station with integrated on-site hydrogen production to Uno-X Hydrogen AS.
“We are proud to announce this landmark agreement with Uno-X Hydrogen, that leverage NEL’s combined competence and technology offering within hydrogen production and refuelling stations. The project will take advantage of NEL’s unique technology solution, where excess solar power is converted directly into low-cost hydrogen fuel at the hydrogen refuelling station and dispensed into hydrogen cars,” Jon André Løkke, CEO of NEL, said in a press release.
Uno-X Hydrogen will build a network of hydrogen refuelling stations, where fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) can operate between all the major cities in Norway within 2020. Following the contract, NEL through its subsidiaries will deliver the hydrogen refuelling station with on-site hydrogen production in 2016.
“We see a lot of interest for such integrated hydrogen solutions, using renewable energy for carbon-free transportation, and expect this market to grow significantly in key areas like Japan, Germany and California,” said Løkke.
Uno-X Hydrogen also announced the decision to build a hydrogen refuelling station with on-site hydrogen production co-located with Powerhouse Kjørbo, an energy-positive office building in Sandvika, Norway.
“We are excited to build a hydrogen refuelling station at Powerhouse Kjørbo, enabling fuel cell electric vehicles to fill hydrogen produced locally by the energy-positive office building. This will be the world’s first hydrogen station with such an integrated solution, and represents an innovative example of the role hydrogen can play in grid balancing and utilization of renewable energy,” said Løkke.
Kjørbo is centrally located in Sandvika outside of Oslo, by two of the busiest roads in Norway with 80,000 cars passing daily. The project has a total budget of NOK 28.4 million, of which NOK 5.7 million is support from the Akershus County Council and NOK 7.7 million is from the Norwegian public enterprise, Enova, responsible for the promotion of environmentally friendly production and consumption of energy. Other project partners include consulting firm Asplan Viak and Bærum Municipality.
“Uno-X Hydrogen wishes to contribute to the green shift within the transport sector by providing renewable, zero-emission hydrogen fuel to our customers. This hydrogen refuelling station marks the start of our planned network of minimum 20 stations in Norway by 2020 and enabling all Norwegians to have the option to choose a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle as their next car,” says Roger Hertzenberg, CEO of Uno-X Hydrogen AS.
Powerhouse Kjørbo, which is owned by Entra ASA, uses solar panels that can supply upward of 200,000 kWh each year, twice the amount of the building’s annual energy consumption.
“The Powerhouse partners are developing Kjørbo office park into one of the most environmentally friendly real estate projects in Norway, operating as a net producer of renewable energy. We are pleased to welcome Uno-X Hydrogen on the site and look forward to providing a state-of-the-art hydrogen refuelling station to the next generation of low emission vehicles,” says Arve Regland, CEO of Entra ASA.
NEL ASA is the first dedicated hydrogen company on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Since its foundation in 1927, NEL Hydrogen has a proud history of development and continual improvement of hydrogen plants. NEL is a global supplier of hydrogen solutions, covering the entire value chain from hydrogen production technologies to hydrogen refuelling stations for fuel cell electric vehicles. H2 Logic A/S is a leading manufacturer of H2Station hydrogen refuelling stations that provides fuel cell electric vehicles with the same fast refuelling and long range as conventional vehicles today. www.nel-asa.com
Uno-X Hydrogen AS is a joint venture, owned by Uno-X and NEL with 51 per cent and 49 per cent respectively. The joint venture will build a network of hydrogen refuelling stations, where fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) can operate between all the major cities in Norway. The stations will be deployed in cities like Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, Stavanger, Kristiansand, along with corresponding corridor locations. The target is that FCEVs can drive between the most populated cities in Norway within 2020.
Powerhouse is a collaboration of companies dedicated to building energy positive buildings. The collaboration consists of Entra, Skanska, Snøhetta, the environmental NGO ZERO, the aluminium company Hydro, the aluminium profile company Sapa og the consulting firm Asplan Viak. Powerhouse wants to demonstrate that it is possible to build energy positive buildings, not just in the southern regions of the world, but also in cold Norway. www.powerhouse.no.
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