First Air Liquide hydrogen filling station in France for a regional authority

Air Liquide has just won a competitive bid launched by the Conseil Général de la Manche to supply and install a hydrogen filling station in Saint-Lô, France.

By the end of 2014, the Air Liquide station will be ready to refill the Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles that will soon be added to the fleet of vehicles operated by the Conseil Général de la Manche. Thanks to the station, it will be possible to refuel these vehicles in less than five minutes.

Installing this new station constitutes the first step in the process of rolling out an infrastructure for hydrogen distribution in France.

The Air Liquide Group is actively involved in setting up the hydrogen energy industry at global level, in particular through initiatives aimed at building hydrogen filling stations across Europe, the United States, and Asia. In 2012, Air Liquide inaugurated its first hydrogen filling station for the general public in Düsseldorf, Germany. The Group also announced last month that it was going to install four new hydrogen filling stations in Denmark – the first hydrogen infrastructure network in Europe at national level.

Hydrogen helps to preserve the environment by providing solutions for the challenges of sustainable mobility: to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as local pollution in urban areas. The creation of a distribution infrastructure is one of the key challenges for the commercial development of Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles.