The President of BAS Prof. Julian Revalski, Member of the Academy, attended today the opening of the first hydrogen fuelling station for Bulgaria and the region. It is part of the infrastructure of the “Integrated Energy Systems” Field Laboratory of the “HITMOBIL” Centre of Competence and marks the beginning of hydrogen electric mobility in the country. In the construction of the facility, the main contractors are the DELECTRA, AQUACHIM and MONBAT companies.
The hydrogen fuelling station, made by the Austrian company EDC-ANLAGENTECHNIK, has fuelling capabilities at the two standard pressures for compressed hydrogen – 350 and 700 bar. Hydrogen can be fed into the fuelling station via two inlets. One is connected to an electrolyzer with a capacity of 8.5 kg per day which produces hydrogen on site with renewable energy from the photovoltaic park at the Field Laboratory. The hydrogen thus produced is of very high purity, sufficient for direct use in vehicles. Through the second inlet, hydrogen can be fed in from cylinder groups supplied from other sources, allowing the station to achieve a higher fuelling capacity if required. Up to 70 kg of compressed hydrogen can be stored in the station’s high-pressure vessels which can provide up to 7,000 km of range. Its hydrogen compression capability is in the order of 40-50 kg. per day which is sufficient to fuel 10-15 cars or 2 buses on a daily basis.
Once compressed in high-pressure vessels, hydrogen can be used to fuel cars without the fuelling process to require external energy. This is one of the advantages of hydrogen mobility, especially at times of peak electricity consumption.
The launch of the hydrogen fuelling station also marks the start of the planned research programme of the HITMOBIL CoC for hydrogen production by electrolysis of water with renewable energy and its use in the transport sector. The team’s ambition is, through proactive cooperation with the business community, to demonstrate the capabilities of hydrogen technologies and thus give a positive impetus to their accelerated introduction in the country.
The first hydrogen fuelling station for Bulgaria and the region is located at 11, Iskarsko shose, Iskar municipality, Sofia (entrance to the site from Munich street).
