Cal to in invest $115M in hydrogen refilling infrastructure This story was posted on the Xebec LinkedIn page.
The California Energy Commission (CEC) approved a plan that will invest up to $115 million to significantly increase the number of fueling stations in the state that support hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). The funding nearly doubles the state’s investments to date, and will help California nearly achieve its goal to deploy 200 public hydrogen fueling stations.
Under the plan, up to 111 new hydrogen fueling stations will be built in the state by 2027, including many designed for multi-use by passenger vehicles, trucks and buses. Total project funding is subject to annual approval of both the state budget and allocations from the CEC.
To date, the CEC has funded 45 open retail hydrogen stations with an additional 16 under construction. Altogether with CEC’s latest approved plan, there could be up to 179 stations in the state, including seven privately funded stations.
Commissioners awarded three grants totaling nearly $25 million for the installation of the first 30 stations under the plan. More than half of the stations approved will be built in or near disadvantaged communities.
Irvine-based FirstElement Fuel, Inc., received $15.5 million. San Francisco-based Equilon Enterprises (doing business as Shell Oil Products U.S.) received $7.3 million, and the Santa Clara-based Iwatani Corporation of America, received $1.9 million.
First Element Fuel also received $5 million from the Volkswagen (VW) Environmental Mitigation Trust. The additional funds are designed to accelerate the development of additional hydrogen fueling stations in California.
The grants were awarded through the CEC’s Clean Transportation Program, which invests more than $100 million annually to support transportation-related innovations and accelerate the development and deployment of advanced transportation and fuel technologies. About $20 million from the program – the maximum allowable under state law – is invested each year to support an initial network of at least 100 public hydrogen stations.