Initial focus on forklifts and buses plus support for Mirai fuel cell electric fleet
Toyota has commissioned Victoria’s first commercial-grade permanent hydrogen production, storage and refuelling facility at its former manufacturing site at Altona in Melbourne’s west.
The $7.4 million facility was installed by Linde Group gas company BOC and is said to be capable of filling a Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) in three to five minutes, and can also be used to dispense hydrogen to buses and forklifts.
Though less trucks-oriented, the development follows swiftly behind Coregas announcing it has won a New South Wales government grant to build a Port Kembla hydrogen refuelling station capable of servicing a prime-mover fleet expected to operate in the Illawarra-Shoalhaven region.
This pair joins hydrogen refuelling plans announced in Western Australia and Queensland.
According to Toyota Australia president and CEO Matthew Callachor, the Toyota Hydrogen Centre was built to showcase the benefits of hydrogen fuel cell technology as part of its commitment to developing sustainable technologies for future mobility and energy needs.
“Globally, Toyota is committed to achieving zero CO2 emissions from its vehicles and plants under the Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050 and the commissioning of our hydrogen refuelling facility here today is an important step towards achieving that goal,” Callachor says.
“By demonstrating the viability of renewably-produced hydrogen as an automotive and energy fuel through this project, Toyota and its partners in government and business are pioneering a cleaner, more sustainable future that will encourage the further acceptance of this technology.
“We would like to thank our government partners for their assistance in bringing this project to fruition and those progressive forward-thinking business partners who will lease the 20 Mirai sedans we have brought into Australia to prove that hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles can, and will, play an important role in helping to move us towards a more sustainable and greener future.”
Read about the Coregas plan for its hydrogen plant in Port Kembla
Together with the hydrogen production, storage and refuelling facility, the Toyota Hydrogen Centre incorporates an education centre.
Hydrogen is produced on site by a 200kW electrolyser that uses electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen components and has the capacity to produce up to 80kg of hydrogen per day.
Power for the electrolyser is drawn from a combination of an 87kW solar array, a 100kW battery storage and mains grid depending on what’s available at the time.
The hydrogen is then stored in a bank of storage tubes at medium and high pressure to be able to refuel both the fuel-cell forklifts that Toyota uses in other parts of the Altona complex and hydrogen FCEVs.
BOC South Pacific MD John Evans believes completion of the Toyota Hydrogen Centre is a significant milestone that would advance hydrogen mobility in Victoria and support Toyota’s ambition for zero emissions from its sites by 2050.
“Hydrogen mobility infrastructure is already well-established globally with Linde installing more than 180 hydrogen refuelling stations worldwide and over 1.5 million successful car refuellings.
“This hydrogen refuelling station will help build community confidence and understanding of this emerging fuel, with Toyota playing an important role in educating the public about how hydrogen can play a significant role in transport and the broader energy supply chain.
“BOC is committed to working with industry and government to build hydrogen mobility demand particularly in metropolitan locations, which will help stimulate more investment in hydrogen production and refuelling stations across Australia.”