The New Energies Service Station in Geelong will have both hydrogen and electric car charging stations, and brings a fleet of FCEV vehicles.
A new hydrogen and electric fast-charging station will be built in Geelong, Victoria and open to the public to use.
The New Energies Service Station has received $22.8 million funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) on behalf of the Australian Government. The remainder of the $43.4 million project will be invested by its owner, Viva Energy Group Limited (Viva Energy). The station will be located opposite Viva Energy’s petroleum refinery in Geelong.
The new energy station incorporates a 2 megawatt (MW) electrolyser along with hydrogen compression, storage and dispensing infrastructure. The service station will also include 150 kW electric vehicle (EV) charging facilities and, in the future, Viva Energy hopes to add traditional diesel refuelling on-site to allow drivers to ‘witness FCEV charging.’
The location of the new charging station is not just in keeping the alternative fuel station oppostie a traditional refinery, with easy acces to high voltage infrastructure and recycled water (for hydrogen production) nearby at the Barwon Water recycling plant.
Announced by ARENA today, the investment will also subsidise the purchase and operations of 15 hydrogen FCEVs to help fast-track FCEV uptake. ARENA funding for the FCEVs will be paid upon the delivery of the vehicles, it said.
The new FCEV fleet will be purchased and owned by project partners including Toll Group, ComfortDelGro Corporation Australia, Cleanaway, and Barwon Water, including trucks, wastewater, and municipal waste collection vehicles and buses.
“We’re excited to be working with Viva Energy to build Australia’s first publicly available hydrogen refuelling station to independent fleets,” said ARENA CEO Darren Miller.
Viva Energy CEO Scott Wyatt said: “This funding from ARENA has opened the door for Viva Energy to work with long-term customers to demonstrate the important role that hydrogen will play in the future of transportation in Australia. This project puts hydrogen-powered vehicles on the road to prove their value in day-to-day commercial operations while reducing the carbon footprint of the heavy vehicle transport we rely on every day.”
ARENA has previously funded light vehicle hydrogen FCEV projects with Toyota to build refuelling infrastructure at their repurposed Altona car manufacturing site to support passenger vehicles and forklifts, and BOC who will install a hydrogen refuelling station in Brisbane for passenger fleets. ARENA is also supporting Ark Energy to deploy five FCEV prime movers operating between its zinc refinery and the Port of Townsville.