The station is part of a public transport bus fueling and vehicle demonstration programme, managed by the National Institute of Solar Energy. The project implementation is being executed by the University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, and is entirely funded by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. ‘This project is an important, progressive step towards unlocking the potential of hydrogen as sustainable transportation fuel and alternative energy source, not just for India but the rest of the world,’ says Ravi Subramanian, Asia Business Development Manager for Hydrogen Energy Aystems at Air Products. ‘Although this is a demonstration project, this will be a major stepping stone for India to move towards the hydrogen economy,’ adds Dr Niranjan Raje, former Director of IndianOil and the project’s principal investigator. Air Products now has three hydrogen stations operating in India. In 2012, Air Products India commissioned a hydrogen dispenser in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi to serve a fleet of hydrogen-powered auto rickshaws. These three-wheeled, hydrogen internal combustion engine vehicles transport visitors at the Pragati Maidan exhibition site. Air Products was also a key player in the earlier opening of India’s first fueling station offering hydrogen and HCNG (a hydrogen/compressed natural gas blend), at an R&D centre in Faridabad, south of New Delhi. The company has formed alliances in Japan with Suzuki Shokan to serve the materials handling market, and with Nippon Steel & Sumikin Pipeline & Engineering to serve automotive customers. Other recent installations include the UK’s first supermarket hosted hydrogen station – at the Sainsbury's store in Hendon, as part of the London Hydrogen Network Expansion project – and a hydrogen station sold to Hyundai Motor Company Australia.
Delhi has moved forward plans to install its first hydrogen powered fueling station, which will be supplied by Air Products. The station will be located at the Solar Energy Centre near India and generate 100% 'green' hydrogen via an electrolyser. The innovation comes under a scheme from the National Institute of Solar Energy, aiming to create a progressive step towards unlocking the potential of hydrogen as a form of sustainable transportation. This is Air Products third (no without solar energy) hydrogen station in the country.