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Shell Hydrogen signs agreement with Vandenborre Technologies to develop and market home hydrogen refueling unit

Posted: 16 June 2003

Shell Hydrogen, a global business of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies, signed a development, marketing and sales agency agreement with Vandenborre Technologies N.V., a wholly owned subsidiary of Stuart Energy Systems Corporation.

The agreement gives Shell Hydrogen access to Vandenborre’s electrolyser-based hydrogen home refuelling products.

A home hydrogen refuelling unit consists of a small-scale electrolyser powered by mains electricity that converts water from the domestic supply into a slow stream of hydrogen.

The only local emission is oxygen. The technology offers the prospect of drivers parking in their front drives or parking spaces at the end of the day and connecting their vehicles to home refuelling units for a steady refill overnight.

Under the agreement, Shell Hydrogen obtains non-exclusive rights to act as agent for Vandenborre’s home refuelling technology.

Shell Hydrogen will conduct market analysis of the potential of home hydrogen refuelling, while Vandenborre Technologies will develop and manufacture home refuelling units.

The companies expect to introduce a first prototype for field testing within a year, in a European market.

Shell Hydrogen is exploring the potential of home hydrogen refuelling as part of its activities to develop a global hydrogen refuelling infrastructure. These efforts also include work on solutions to technical problems such as hydrogen storage and participation in demonstration projects of hydrogen refuelling stations.

In April Shell Hydrogen opened the first Shell-branded hydrogen refuelling station, in Reykjavik, Iceland.

“Ultimately customers will decide how they want to receive hydrogen,” said Jeremy Bentham, Chief Executive Officer of Shell Hydrogen. “For widespread acceptance we believe refuelling infrastructure will probably have to resemble existing infrastructure.

But we can foresee that new and innovative solutions, such as home refuelling, may be deployed and some may prove successful with consumers. In remote locations or regions with limited hydrogen demand, for example, home refuelling may be an elegant solution. Some commuters using their vehicles for short daily journeys may also choose home hydrogen refuelling if it is safe, easy and attractive in terms of cost.”

Jon Slangerup, President and Chief Executive Officer of Stuart Energy, said: “Through this agreement, we will be combining our technical and market expertise with Shell Hydrogen’s extensive market analysis capabilities and distribution channels.”

Hugo Vandenborre, founder of Vandenborre Technologies, added: "Since the early 1990’s, Stuart Energy and Vandenborre Technologies have accumulated a great deal of experience and expertise in safely delivering hydrogen to vehicles using our electrolysis refuelling stations. As a combined team, Vandenborre Technologies and Stuart Energy have installed or have on order 19 hydrogen refuelling stations in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. We look forward to applying this know-how to the further development of the home hydrogen refuelling units and to collaborating with Shell Hydrogen as we begin commercialisation."

Later this year, Shell Hydrogen plans to install a hydrogen dispenser at an existing Shell retail site in Washington DC. Showa Shell is a partner in a hydrogen refuelling station in Tokyo to be used by fleets of fuel cell vehicles supplied by various automotive companies.

Shell Hydrogen is also involved in hydrogen demonstration projects for sustainable mobility in California, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Shell is the only global energy group active in demonstration projects in all three of the key hydrogen markets — North America, Europe and Japan.

For more information see www.shell.com.

Posted by Richard Price, Editor Pipeline Magazine

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