Japan's First Hydrogen Refueling Station Able to Serve FC Trucks in Motomiya, Fukushima
Japan's First Hydrogen Refueling Station Able to Serve FC Trucks in Motomiya, Fukushima
ITOCHU ENEX CO.,LTD. (Headquartered in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Kenji Okada, Representative Director, President and CEO; hereinafter "ITOCHU ENEX") and ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Keita Ishii, President & COO; hereinafter "ITOCHU") announced that they will participate in the Motomiya Interchange Hydrogen Refueling Station project which will be able to serve fuel cell (hereinafter "FC") trucks that will be constructed by Air Liquide Japan G.K. (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Virginie Cavalli, President & CEO; hereinafter "Air Liquide") as a part of the strategic collaboration on the development of a hydrogen value chain, in line with a memorandum signed by the three companies in February 2021. This Hydrogen Refueling Station (hereinafter "HRS"), which will be constructed on land adjacent to Enex Fleet's*1 Motomiya Interchange CS*2 in Motomiya-city, Fukushima Prefecture, will have two-lane facilities and is scheduled to start operation in the first half of 2024 as Japan's first HRS which serves FC trucks*3 and operates 24 hours a day and 365 days a year.
Motomiya-city, where the HRS will be located, is in the center of the Nakadori region of Fukushima Prefecture and is close proximity to an important transportation hub where the Tohoku Expressway and other highways run through it. In Fukushima Prefecture, a demonstration project in ongoing to establish and implement energy management systems toward the popularization of electric vehicles led by Commercial Japan Partnership Technologies (CJPT). The HRS will supply hydrogen to some of the FC commercial vehicles to be operated by companies participating in the demonstration project.
The opening of the HRS is in line with the hydrogen/fuel cell strategy roadmap set out by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry with the goal of ensuring that hydrogen refueling stations are opened in 320 locations and 200,000 FCV (fuel cell-based vehicles) are in use by 2025. Fukushima Prefecture has been taking a range of steps toward the creation of a hydrogen-based society in which hydrogen is used as energy in people's lives and for industrial purposes. We believe this project of opening of a large-scale hydrogen station follows these initiatives.
This HRS will be constructed leveraging subsidies for the development of public hydrogen stations to promote the use of fuel-cell vehicles provided by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the subsidies for business projects promoting the use of hydrogen energy provided by the Fukushima Prefectural Government.
Going forward, the three companies will continue to work together to identify more opportunities to construct HRS with similar concepts along highways to increase the usage of FC trucks and promote the development of the hydrogen market, leveraging the customer base and the energy distribution systems of ITOCHU ENEX, ITOCHU's wide-ranging networks in consumer-related sectors and Air Liquide's expertise in the production and supply of hydrogen.
The ITOCHU ENEX Group will continue supporting logistics in Japan while contributing to the realization of a sustainable society through a wide range of business, including the ubiquitization of FC trucks and the expansion of hydrogen infrastructure.
*1 Enex Fleet is a wholly owned subsidiary of ITOCHU ENEX
*2 An abbreviation for Car-Life Station. It is a service station proposed by ITOCHU ENEX and provides multiple services.
*3 Hydrogen can be supplied to large or small FC trucks, as well as to FC buses and FC passenger vehicles.
[Reference 1]
[CG image of Air Liquide Motomiya Interchange Hydrogen Refueling Station]
[Reference 2]
[Facility overview]
Name Air Liquide Motomiya Interchange Hydrogen Refueling Station (provisional name)
Planned opening First half of 2024
Hydrogen supply method Offsite method
Hydrogen supply capacity 300 Nm3/h or more 2 systems
Filling pressure 82 MPa
Location 2-8 Arai Aza Kitsune-mori, Motomiya-shi, Fukushima (next to Enex Fleet's Motomiya Interchange CS)
Hours of operation: All hours
Regular days closed: None
Access: Left side of the outbound lane of National Route No. 4, 700 meters toward Fukushima from the Tohoku Expressway Motomiya Interchange
