Air Liquide Japan is going to build up a commercial H2 filling station to be managed independently for the first time for the scheduled start of operation in March 2016 in Saga City of Saga Prefecture.

The Saga H2 Station located in the heart of Saga City will be constructed on the land offered by the local government in February to start operation in March.

ALJ has already opened its commercial H2 station at 2 locations in Aichi in collaboration with Toyota Tsusho. So, it is ALJ’s 3rd station and the first case to be solely managed. Th station is off-site type taking in compressed hydrogen. The filling capacity is 100Nm3 per hour which is 1/3 stationary station, while there is no difference from the current station in the filling pressure of 70Nm3 and the fill-up speed of about 3 minutes for FCV of ordinary type.

In future, as FCV gets more popular among car users, there will be more chances for them to drive out of the urban areas. It is intended as a model case to see how the H2 infrastructure should be developed in the suburbs with an additional consideration of expansion to cope with increased demand for filling in future.

To develop the installation of infrastructure in a smaller area than the metropolitan areas in terms of demand scale, it is necessary to make efforts to drive awareness of general people living around as well as the cost reduction in the construction and operation of stations. ALJ also aims to dig up regional needs, providing tour facilities for the purpose of harmony with the local society.