On March 16, Iwatani held an opening ceremony of “Iwatani H2 Station-Tokyo Ariake” (located at Ariake, Koto-ku, Tokyo) which would assume the role of H2 filling to FC buses of the Tokyo Metropolis and was in service from March 21. Many attendants including Tokyo Government officials celebrated the inauguration with the attendance of the top managements of Iwatani of Akiji Makino chairman and Masao Nomura president.

In the area of about 3,200 m2 by the crossing of the Odaiba Ariake which will be the main site of the Tokyo Olympics, two units of dispenser for FC buses and one for general FCVs will be provided. The H2 filling capacity of 900Nm3/h is three times as large as that of general H2 station.

An FC bus is loaded with 25kg of H2 when filled to capacity which corresponds to five times of that for an FCV. In order to meet the needs for filling a larger volume of H2, some dedicated arrangements were made making the most of the properties of the liquefied H2 in the station. A large-scale tank of 47kL was installed for the first time for an H2 station, while a liquid pump system was adopted to pressurize H2.

This system to boost pressure as liquid up to 82MPa through the vaporizer requires no compressor, and the liquid pump having a capacity of 900Nm3/h is more compact than one unit of the existing compressor (300Nm3/h). With a smaller space much more H2 can be pressurized. The liquid pump is made by German Linde who modified their model so as to comply with the Japanese legal restrictions based on their booster for industrial use and for an H2 station in Munich.

Furthermore, the load imposed upon the refrigerator for precooling was decreased by means of utilizing the cold at -253℃ of liquefied H2. We can call it an ideal H2 infrastructure making the best use of the advantages of liquefied H2 timely with the introduction of the FC bus which needs a large-volume H2 filling. In the opening ceremony held in the clear weather President Nomura addressed, “We would like to contribute to the provision of infrastructure in an attempt to appealing the Japanese development of H2 energy in the opportunity of the Olympic Games.” After the tape-cutting rite for commemoration and the demonstration of filling FC bus, the participants made a station tour and trial ride on the FC bus.