News & Media releases

First hydrogen refueling station opens in Shanghai

15/11/2007

China Ministry of Science and Technology, Shanghai government, Tongji University and Shell Hydrogen today announced the opening of the first hydrogen refueling station in Shanghai for fuel cell vehicles.

The Anting Hydrogen refueling station, located at the International Automotive City in Anting, Shanghai, will dispense compressed gaseous hydrogen for a fleet of fuel cell cars and buses operating in the Shanghai region. 

The Shanghai government has already helped to deliver dozens of fuel cell vehicles operating in Shanghai, and this is planned to grow exponentially by 2010, including fuel cell buses sponsored by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) through the United Nations Development Programme.

Tongji University is responsible for the development and operation of the new hydrogen station, with Shell contributing technical advice and part of the funding. The station also features an information centre on the hydrogen economy.

Officiating at the launch event, Wan Gang, Minister of Science and Technology Commission, said:  “CO2 and climate change is a global issue and China takes it very seriously.  Our policies to push for energy conservation and the application of advanced technologies for clean and renewable energy solutions go hand in hand.  I am pleased that this Tongji-Shell partnership has kicked off China’s adoption of the clean and renewable hydrogen fuel.  I hope that this cooperation will continue and be a stronger force in helping improve Shanghai’s air quality.”

With China now the second largest automotive market overtaking Japan (1), car ownership predicted to increase three fold in the next ten years (2), and demand for energy expected to more than double in the next two decades (3 ), hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCV) are set to play an important part in China’s growing energy and mobility needs.

Tail pipe emissions from hydrogen FCV vehicles produce virtually zero carbon emissions, and have the potential to significantly improve local air quality.

Groundbreaking approaches to produce ‘green hydrogen’, manufactured from renewable energy sources, such as bioethanol (derived from biomass) and solar energy are also being researched for the future. In these cases total ‘well-to-wheel’ emissions can near zero.

Hydrogen can also be produced from a number of different feedstocks including oil, coal and biomass. This allows different countries to manufacture hydrogen with their own domestic supplies, and at the same time reduce costs and increase security of supply.

Duncan Macleod, Vice President for Shell Hydrogen, also at the Shanghai launch event, said: “The Shanghai government and Tongji University are leading the way in clean fuels for Shanghai, and we are proud to be playing a part, as the chosen technical partner for this project, as well as in other clean fuels. Through this project, we can share know-how with our partners to help China to advance its capabilities to implement hydrogen as part of its energy system.”

Yu Zhuoping, dean of School of Automotive Studies, Tongji University, said: “The opening of the hydrogen station marks an important milestone in the infrastructure development for future clean energy cars. We are pleased that the project has been endorsed by China’s Ministry of Science and Technology and look forward to a long-term partnership with Shell.”

The Anting Hydrogen refueling station has been delivered under the auspices of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology’s "863 Program".  Named after the date in which it was created (i.e. March 1986), the programme aims to stimulate the development of advanced technologies in a wide range of fields. This includes the demonstration and commercialisation of hybrid-electric drive and fuel cell vehicles.

Completion of the Anting Hydrogen refueling station also follows a pre-feasibility study by Tongji University and Shell that recommended setting up a small network of hydrogen stations in Shanghai to support the introduction of fuel cell cars.

Notes for editors:

About Shell Hydrogen
‘Shell Hydrogen’ refers to the companies of the Shell Group of companies that are engaged in the pursuit and development of businesses related to hydrogen and fuel cells.  Each of the companies that make up the Shell Group of companies is a separate and distinct legal entity. Principal offices of Shell Hydrogen are located in The Hague, the Netherlands, with regional bases in Houston and Tokyo. Shell Hydrogen has been developing hydrogen and fuel cell businesses since 1999. For further information, please visit www.shell.com/hydrogen.

About Tongji University
Established in 1907 and located on the outskirts of Shanghai, Tongji University holding the disciplines of science, engineering, medicine, literature and law with 54,000 students and more than 8,520 staff.

Tongji's School of Automotive Studies is one of the most well known departments in China. Its Clean Energy Automotive Engineering Centre has wide cooperation with industry automotive companies, including SAIC (Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation), VW, GM, Cherry, and Geely. It has also proprietarily developed its own FCV named StartI, Start II, and Start III (different generations) based on VW cars.

Subsidized by the National '863' Project, Tongji developed ten 'Start' FCVs in 2005. Subsequently, it developed three 'Shanghai' FCVs, two based on Passat and one fuel cell bus.

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(1) Chinese auto sales touched 7.22 million in 2006, 25% up from previous year and it has overtaken Japan to be the second-largest car market in the world with sales of 8 million vehicles, including light trucks and minivans.

• Currently, China is the second largest automotive market after Japan and third largest automotive producing market in the world.
• China’s motor vehicle production and sales increased by 27.32% and 25% over the year 2005 respectively and sales crossed 7 million units in 2006.
• China's car consumption showed a compound annual growth rate of 54.42% from 2001 to 2005.
• Per 1000 people passenger car penetration of China was around 11 units in 2006. This was significantly lower than other countries.

Source: China Automobile Industry Forecast (2006-2010), Publish Date: May 2007 - opens in new window - opens in new window 


(2 ) “Car ownership could increase nearly threefold in the next decade, though growth rates are likely to peak in the next few years.”

Source: The BRICs and Global Markets: Crude, Cars and Capital Global Research Centres (pdf - size 536KB) - opens in new window - opens in new window


(3) China's demand for energy is likely to more than double in two decades from the current level with the nation's industrialisation and urbanisation drive, according to a research centre at the National Development and Reform Commission. Demand is expected to rise to 2.4-3.2 billion tonnes of standard coal by 2020 from 1.4 billion tonnes last year.

Source: National Development and Reform Commission.