Saudi Aramco, in cooperation with Air Products, the world's leading manufacturer of industrial gases, will launch, on Tuesday, the first hydrogen fuel station in Saudi Arabia to fill hydrogen fuel cell vehicles at Air Products headquarters in Dhahran Techno Valley.
Saudi Aramco said theinauguration of the country's first hydrogen fuel station to supply hydrogenfuel cell vehicles is aimed at boosting the application of technology in SaudiAramco's operations and keeping pace with the latest energy production, distributionand consumption technologies.
The agreement provides that Air Products providestechnical knowledge and expertise in the field of hydrogen, while Saudi Aramcoprovides industrial experience, facilities, and its research and developmentcapabilities. The partners are also to establish a pilot fleet of hydrogen fuelcell vehicles, to be supplied with high-purity compressed hydrogen in the new andfirst-of-kind hydrogen fuel station in Saudi Arabia.
In addition, the new technology "SmartFuel" of fueling hydrogen, owned by Air Products, will be introduced in the newstation to supply the experimental fleet with compressed hydrogen cells.
The objective of this step is to collect andanalyze data during the pilot period in this project to assess the futureapplications of this emerging transport technology in Saudi Arabia.
"Hydrogen fuel cells provide an efficient vehiclefor electric vehicles, with the ease of refueling within 5 minutes with smoothdriving for long distances," said Ahmad Al-Khuwaiter, chief technical officerof Saudi Aramco in a previous statement.
Al-Khuwaiter added, "The use ofhydrogen derived from crude oil or gas to operate fuel-cell electric carsrepresents an opportunity to expand the use of crude oil in clean transport".
For his part, dr. Sameer Sarhan,Executive Vice President, Air Products, said, "We are honored to work withSaudi Aramco in another project to establish and develop a sustainable systemto supply the hydrocarbon-derived hydrogen experimental fleet in Saudi Arabia.This project further demonstrates our commitment to the vision of Saudi Arabia2030".
The hydrogen refueling station will be built atAir Products' global standard technology center at the Science Park at DhahranTechno Valley.
Toyota Motor Corporation will provide Toyota'sfuel-efficient Mirai cars for testing in the pilot phase. Toyota MotorCorporation has been investing in hydrogen for more than 20 years, and for thefirst time in large quantities in 2014 it launched the Mirai, its first hydrogenfuel cell vehicle.
The vehicle is characterized by compressedhydrogen gas, with no emissions except water. It works through fuel cells thatproduce electricity by mixing oxygen extracted from the air and hydrogen fromthe fuel tank. Toyota confirms that hydrogen fuel cell technology can provide asustainable solution without any emissions through a wide range of vehicles.
