Fountain Fuel last week opened the Netherlands’ first “zero-emission energy station” in Amersfoort, offering both hydrogen and electric vehicles a hydrogenation/charging service. Both technologies are seen by Fountain Fuel’s founders and potential customers as necessary for the transition to zero emissions.
‘Hydrogen fuel cell cars are no match for electric cars’
On the eastern edge of Amersfoort, just a stone’s throw from the A28 and A1 roads, motorists will soon be able to charge their electric cars and refill their hydrogen-fuelled trams at Fountain Fuel’s new “Zero Emission Energy station”. On May 10, 2023, Vivianne Heijnen, Secretary of State for Infrastructure and Water Management of the Netherlands, officially opened the complex, where a new BMW iX5 hydrogen fuel cell vehicle was refueling.
It is not the first refueling station in the Netherlands — there are already 15 in operation across the country — but it is the first integrated energy station in the world to combine refueling and charging stations.
Infrastructure first
“It’s true that we don’t see many hydrogen-powered vehicles on the road right now, but it’s a chicken-and-egg problem,” said Stephan Bredewold, co-founder of Fountain Fuel. We can wait until hydrogen-fueled cars are widely available, but people will only drive hydrogen-fueled cars after hydrogen-fueled cars are built.”
Hydrogen versus electric?
In a report by environmental group Natuur & Milieu, the added value of hydrogen energy lags slightly behind that of electric vehicles. The reason is that electric cars themselves are already a good choice in the first place, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are much less efficient than electric cars, and the cost of producing hydrogen is much higher than the energy produced when hydrogen is used in fuel cells to generate electricity. An electric car can travel three times as far on the same charge as a hydrogen fuel cell car.
You need both
But now everyone says it’s time to stop thinking of the two emissions-free driving options as competitors. “All resources are needed,” says Sander Sommer, Allego’s general manager. “We shouldn’t put all our eggs in one basket.” Allego Company involves a large number of electric vehicle charging business.
Jurgen Guldner, BMW Group’s Hydrogen technology program manager, agrees, “Electric vehicle technology is great, but what if you don’t have charging facilities near your home? What if you simply don’t have the time to charge your electric car over and over again? What if you live in a cold climate where electric cars often have problems? Or as a Dutchman what if you want to hang something on the back of your car?”
But above all, the Energiewende aims to achieve full electrification in the near future, which means huge competition for grid space is looming. Frank Versteege, a manager at Louwman Groep, an importer of Toyota, Lexus and Suzuki, says that if we electrified 100 buses, we could reduce the number of households connected to the grid by 1,500.
State Secretary for Infrastructure and Water Management, Netherlands
Vivianne Heijnen hydrogenates a BMW iX5 hydrogen fuel cell vehicle during the opening ceremony
Extra allowance
State Secretary Heijnen also brought good news at the opening ceremony, saying that the Netherlands has released 178 million euros of hydrogen energy for road and inland waterway transportation in the new climate package, which is much higher than the 22 million dollars set.
future
In the meantime, Fountain Fuel is moving forward, with two more stations in Nijmegen and Rotterdam this year, following the first zero-emission station in Amersfoord. Fountain Fuel hopes to expand the number of integrated zero-emission energy shows to 11 by 2025 and 50 by 2030, ready for the widespread adoption of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
Post time: May-19-2023