Norway's NEL to build hydrogen station powered by solar

Norwegian hydrogen company NEL ASA said today it would build a NOK-25-million (USD 3m/EUR 2.7m) hydrogen refuelling station with integrated on-site hydrogen production from solar energy in Sandvika outside of Oslo.

The order has been placed by NEL's joint venture with Norwegian fuel station chain Uno-X, called Uno-X Hydrogen AS. Uno-X owns 51% in the venture and NEL 49%. The hydrogen refuelling station is the first of the venture's planned network of minimum 20 stations in Norway by 2020.

Under the contract, the hydrogen station will be delivered this year. It will be co-located with an energy-positive office building, which uses solar panels that can supply more than 200,000 kWh per year, twice the amount of the building's annual energy consumption.

NEL chief executive Jon Andre Lokke said that the project was an innovative example of the role hydrogen could play in grid balancing and utilisation of renewable energy.

"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," the CEO said in one of the two statements announcing the project, which is supported by the Akershus County Council and Norwegian public enterprise Enova. Other project partners include consulting firm Asplan Viak and Baerum municipality.

(NOK 1.0 = USD 0.121/EUR 0.106)

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