Air Liquide plans network of new hydrogen filling stations in the United States

Air Liquide announces plans to develop and supply a fully-integrated hydrogen fueling infrastructure in the northeast United States, in collaboration with Toyota Motor Sales USA, Inc. (Toyota), to support Toyota’s introduction of a new hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV), the “Mirai”, and its plans to deliver hydrogen FCEVs in the United States.

Air Liquide’s U.S. hydrogen fueling infrastructure in the northeast will initially consist of twelve filling stations across a number of states, with plans to extend the network as demand warrants. The hydrogen filling stations will offer a typical vehicle filling experience. The stations developed by Air Liquide allow Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles to fill up in less than 5 minutes, and FCEVs themselves offer an autonomy that can reach up to 300 miles (500 km) in range, depending on the model.

This initiative is the latest in the company’s current portfolio of hydrogen fuel cell energy activities in the U.S. and across North America, which also include recently awarded hydrogen fueling stations in California, and a number of fleet fueling projects for public buses and warehouse vehicles.

Air Liquide is actively involved in setting up the hydrogen energy industry at global level. The Group has delivered more than 60 hydrogen stations worldwide. Air Liquide already operates hydrogen filling stations for the general public in Europe, including Rotterdam, Netherlands and Düsseldorf, Germany. In Germany, Air Liquide is also a partner of the “H2 Mobility initiative” which aims to deploy about 400 hydrogen stations covering the whole country by 2023. In 2014, the Group announced the installation of four new hydrogen filling stations in Denmark (the first hydrogen infrastructure network in Europe at national level).

Hydrogen has great potential to provide clean energy. Used in the fuel cell, hydrogen combines with oxygen from the air to produce electricity, with water as the only by-product. Air Liquide is present across the entire hydrogen supply chain, from production to storage, distribution and the development of end user applications, thus helping to drive the widespread use of hydrogen as a clean energy.

Michael J. Graff, Air Liquide Group Senior Vice-President for the Americas and Executive Committee member, commented: “Air Liquide and Toyota share a common and clear commitment to innovation and the vision of a clean energy future for vehicle transportation. Air Liquide sees great promise in the emergence of hydrogen FCEVs in the transportation sector around the world. We are proud to be on the forefront of hydrogen fuel cell technology and the deployment of the necessary infrastructure. We support the creation of a new mobility ecosystem and the widespread use of hydrogen as a clean and reliable energy source in the transportation sector.”