Botnia Hydrogen – Green filling stations for heavy transport.
Botnia Hydrogen is building two hydrogen filling stations integrated with electrolysis-based hydrogen production. The stations, which have the capacity to refuel 200 and 400 kg of hydrogen per day at 350 and 700 bar, will be located in Piteå and Arvidsjaur in northern Sweden.
Construction of the facilities is scheduled to begin and both stations are expected to be in operation in 2023. Although all hydrogen-powered vehicles will be able to refuel at the stations, the target group is heavy transport. Norrlandsfonden is one of the financiers.
-The purpose of having two units is to create redundancy, which makes it easier for a rider to decide on the purchase of a hydrogen-powered towing vehicle. The location of the stations is also strategically important based on how the timber transports move. As well as the fact that the car testing business in Arvidsjaur has an interest in it, there is a filling station there, says Henrik Sträng, Botnia Hydrogen.
The hydrogen gas will be produced by electrolysis, which means that the hydrogen gas (H2) is produced by separating the hydrogen from water (H2O) so that from H2O it becomes H2 + O, i.e. hydrogen and oxygen. This is an accepted technology, completely fossil-free and clean process, provided you use green electricity.
The operation of the facilities will be handled by Botnia Hydrogen AB with the help of the expertise of the co-owner Skoogs frøssel AB, which has extensive experience with filling stations that provide fuel for heavy transport.
– We will be able to offer hydrogen transport to, for example, the mining industry if they want to invest in hydrogen-powered vehicles. When the need increases, Botnia Hydrogen will build more plants in strategic places, says Roland Skoog.
Exactly how the future vehicle fleet will be operated cannot be fully predicted, but many experts believe that there will not be a universal solution but several parallel ones, each with its own area of use. Today, electric operation with batteries works well for freight transport where the load is not so heavy and where the driving distances are not so long. However, heavier transports, especially in cold climates, where hydrogen operation has a great advantage.
-Botnia Hydrogen has high competence in hydrogen. They are true pioneers considering that the vehicles their service stations target are not yet on the road. Commendable commitment from the co-owner Skoogs Bränsle AB, which today supplies fuel to the riders targeted by the future investment. Skoogs Bränsle AB aims for the future and wants to participate in the green transition, says Per Nilsson, Norrlandsfonden.
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Green filling stations for heavy transport, February 26, 2023