Germany now has 32 hydrogen stations

Daimler, Shell and Linde have commissioned two more hydrogen stations in Sindelfingen and Pforzheim, bringing the number of options for fuel-cell cars in Baden-Württemberg to nine, making the Federal State Germany's leading H2 region.

The openings follow those in Wiesbaden and Frankfurt in June and brings Germany's hydrogen network to 32 filling stations.

The new sites are located on the A8 (Pforzheim) and A81 (Sindelfingen) motorways, at key intersection points for traffic routes in South-West Germany.

Sindelfingen's H2 station is located near the Daimler vehicle production plant, which houses the company's research and development centre, responsible for overseeing the development of the next generation of Mercedes-Benz fuel cell vehicles.

Daimler is the manufacturer of the two hydrogen stations with H2 filling technology originating from technology company, Linde, with both located at Shell service stations. All three companies are partners in the H2 Mobility joint venture working to expand hydrogen infrastructure in Germany.

Ensuring the success of hydrogen mobility requires the simultaneous provision of an attractive range of fuel-cell vehicles as well as the necessary fuelling infrastructure.

Germany currently has a total of 32 hydrogen refuelling stations in operation, sponsored by the German government via its National Innovation Programme for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NIP).

Berlin has contributed EUR1.8m (US$2.1m) to the construction of the two new stations and by 2018, the plan is to have 100 such refuelling operations.

The Clean Energy Partnership (CEP) demonstration project has laid the foundations for the expansion of Germany's hydrogen infrastructure by establishing common standards and norms.