Hydrogen is the future-oriented fuel for sustainable electromobility with short refueling times and a long range. From now on, cars and commercial vehicles can obtain green hydrogen produced in Switzerland at the first commercial hydrogen filling station in the canton of Zurich.
The hydrogen filling station is located on the LARAG AG site at Riedgrabenstrasse 26 in Rümlang and is a pioneering step in the field of electromobility for AVIA and its member company – Osterwalder Zürich AG. With the opening of the first hydrogen filling station in the canton of Zurich, the most important Swiss economic axis east-west will be further developed.
The trend towards electromobility is unmistakable. With the commissioning of the first commercial hydrogen filling station in the canton of Zurich, the AVIA Association and its member company – Osterwalder Zürich AG – are setting an important example in this area. With the increasing availability of green hydrogen at Swiss filling stations, hydrogen electromobility is becoming a real alternative to reducing CO 2-Reducing emissions from road traffic – not only for commercial vehicles, but also for passenger transport.
Patrick Staubli, Managing Director of the AVIA Association:
As a founding member of the H2 Mobility Switzerland Association, the AVIA Association is convinced that hydrogen will play a key role as an energy source for mobility in the future. We are therefore pleased to be opening another hydrogen filling station within our filling station network in Rümlang, at an economically central and highly frequented location. With our AVIA member companies, we are in the process of expanding the geographic network of hydrogen filling stations. Further projects are being planned, because green hydrogen is the way to independent and ecological electromobility
Hydrogen: pioneering fuel with numerous advantages
The name says it all: hydrogen is produced electrolytically from water. It is important for AVIA that only sustainably produced hydrogen is offered at the filling station in Rümlang, for which it works closely with H2 Energy AG. These hydrogen experts see themselves as business innovators for renewable energies and produce hydrogen with sustainably produced electricity through their participation in Hydrospider AG directly at a Swiss river power plant in order to then deliver it to the AVIA filling stations via short transport routes.
Armin Schnellmann from Osterwalder Zürich AG, which built the AVIA gas station in Rümlang and operates it today, is convinced:
Although hydrogen as an ecological fuel for passenger cars and commercial vehicles is currently in a development phase, it has the potential to become the standard fuel in the medium term. We believe in the assertiveness and success of the product and are planning further projects in the Zurich region in the field of hydrogen electromobility.
A hydrogen-powered car is an electric car that does not store electrical energy in batteries, but generates it in the vehicle itself using a fuel cell. This is because hydrogen reacts with oxygen in the fuel cell and thus generates electrical energy to drive the electric motor. When driving, only water vapor is produced and therefore no harmful emissions are emitted. The refueling process is just as easy, quick and safe as with conventional diesel or gasoline powered vehicles.
As a rule, a hydrogen car has a range of up to 700 kilometers – which is absolutely comparable to vehicles with a classic combustion engine. The practical test shows that one tank of fuel is enough for an average of 600 kilometers – because Airport Taxi Zürich Kloten AG already has ten hydrogen-powered cars in its vehicle fleet. Airport Zürich Kloten AG, which has been the operator of the official taxi ranks at Zurich Airport since January 2020, is demonstrating its pioneering spirit and has the first taxi fleet with hydrogen electric cars in Switzerland. The trend is also increasing in the field of commercial vehicles and more and more companies – such as Camion Transport AG as well as Coop and Migros – are choosing to use hydrogen trucks.
AVIA – Eröffnung der ersten kommerziellen Wasserstofftankstelle im Kanton Zürich, Zürich, 28. Januar 2021
