Air Liquide is expanding its hydrogen charging stations network in Japan

Air Liquide announces that it will open a new hydrogen charging station for the general public in Japan, in Saga City, Kyushu. The Group has already built five hydrogen charging stations in Japan: in the cities of Nagoya Atsuta, Toyota IC, Tokyo Suginami, Tosu and Kawasaki.

Located in the city center of Saga, the new Air Liquide hydrogen charging station, which benefited from METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan) and Saga Prefecture support, will be the first one for general public in Saga city. Due to open in March 2016, it will enable to recharge hydrogen-powered vehicles in less than 3 minutes for an extended range of around 500 kilometers.

In Saga Prefecture, Air Liquide has already designed and installed a mobile hydrogen charging station, in Tosu city. Started in March 2011, the station is operated by Tosu Kankyo Kaihatsu Sogo Center and uses woody-biomass-based hydrogen for clean mobility.

Japan sees hydrogen as a major energy with great promise for the future of the automotive industry and considers building around 100 hydrogen stations by 2017.

Air Liquide masters the entire hydrogen supply chain, from production to storage and from distribution to the development of applications for end users. The Group is actively participating in promoting the widespread use of hydrogen as a clean energy, especially for the transportation sector. To date, more than 75 hydrogen charging stations have already been designed and installed by Air Liquide worldwide.