HyGear, Nedstack and Strukton partner on flexible hydrogen filling station project

The companies will collaborate on boosting refilling and recharging capabilities in off-grid areas.

HyGear, NedStack Fuel Cell Technology and Struckton Civiel Noord & Oost have announced a new partnership for a flexible hydrogen filling station. This refuelling location will also provide electric charging capabilities in regions that are off the grid.

This strategy differs from current H2 refilling infrastructure, which is focused on populated areas.

HyGear is a specialist in on-site H2 generation and supply. Nedstack is a leading PEM fuel cell industry player. Strukton is a rail and civil engineering works expert. Together, they will develop and implement the flexible hydrogen filling station project. It will provide access to electric charging and H2 refuelling in rural areas, which are locations essentially ignored until now.

The majority of refilling and electric battery charging systems and networks target highways or urban areas with high population densities. This has left this emission-free option out of reach for rural areas. That said, there is an important reason that many rural areas do not have these fast-charging stations available to them, and that is that they are not necessarily connected to the electric grid. Still, this also presents a challenge for H2 refuelling, as hydrogen fuel production also requires electricity. In rural areas, the gas network is typically enough for offering the energy needed for both H2 production for refuelling and for electric battery charging.

The flexible hydrogen filling station project will involve developing and testing an off-grid Filler-Charger system.

The off-grid Filler-Charger system will be used to refuel fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) as well as battery electric vehicles (BEVs) without the need to have to connect to the electric grid.

Nedstack will contribute to the collaboration by developing the fuel cell system that will generate the electricity that will recharge BEVs. Struckton, on the other hand, will provide the design for the charging and filling station as a whole. At the same time, HyGear will be using its Steam Methane Reforming (SMR) experience to provide the flexible hydrogen filling station’s H2 generation and its fuel cell system that will convert the fuel into fast charging electricity.