Air Liquide contributes to a large hydrogen filling station network in Germany

Air Liquide, together with its partners of the “H2 Mobility” initiative, has signed a term-sheet agreement to implement a major action plan for the construction of a nationwide hydrogen filling station network in Germany. By 2023, the current German network of 15 hydrogen filling stations will be expanded to about 400 hydrogen stations covering the whole country. The overall investment by all partners will be around €350 million.

This will ensure a need-related supply for the fuel cell electric vehicles available to the market in the coming years. A first step will be the deployment of 100 hydrogen stations in Germany over the next 4 years.

Since 2010, Air Liquide has been a partner of the “H2 Mobility” initiative, aimed at evaluating and contributing to the development of a hydrogen infrastructure in Germany, to support the mass production of fuel cell electric vehicles. In 2012, Air Liquide opened its first hydrogen station for the general public in Düsseldorf, Germany.
The Group is also a partner of comparable initiatives in Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland as well as in Japan.

Air Liquide masters the entire supply chain of hydrogen, from production to storage, distribution and use by the end consumer. In the last decade, the Group has built more than 60 hydrogen stations in the world. Air Liquide stations allow to fill vehicles with gaseous hydrogen in less than 5 minutes.
Alongside the automotive industry, Air Liquide supplies hydrogen for forklift truck fleets for logistics warehouses in France, Canada and the US, as well as for municipal bus fleets.

François Darchis, Senior Vice-President and a member of Air Liquide's Executive Committee, commented: “This agreement represents a major step forward in the construction of a hydrogen filling infrastructure in Germany and beyond in Europe. Hydrogen contributes to the challenges of sustainable mobility: reducing greenhouse gases and local pollution in our cities, and thus ultimately to the preservation of the environment. This project also highlights the commitment of the Air Liquide Group to develop and promote innovative technologies for the deployment of the ‘hydrogen energy’ infrastructure worldwide.”