Britain’s Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) has unveiled details of its GBP23m (US$29m) Hydrogen Transport Programme (HTP).
The aim is to expand the network of refuelling stations alongside the deployment of fuel cell vehicles, building on the previous Hydrogen Refuelling Stations (HRS) Infrastructure Capital Grant Scheme.
Go deeper with GlobalData
The new Hydrogen Transport Programme will provide funding to support the roll out of refuelling stations and fuel cell vehicles in the UK. The programme has two primary objectives:
- To increase the number of publicly-accessible hydrogen refuelling stations in the UK.
- To up the number of fuel cell-powered electric vehicles on UK roads.
The GBP23M of funding is by open competition for both Hydrogen Refuelling Stations (HRS), as well as hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and will be released in two stages. Stage One of the HTP opened to applications for funding on 17th August, and closes on 16th October 2017.
It is anticipated several projects will receive funding awards, to be funded between November this year and May, 2019:
- Stage 1 will commit up to GBP9m to 50:50 match fund around seven HRS facilities to be completed in 2018/19, plus captive fleets. Funding will start in November, 2017.
- Stage 2 will commit up to GBP14m to fund up to ten HRS sites plus captive fleets and will begin in December, 2018, subject to market developments in Stage 1.
The funding will allow additional larger capacity HRS options to be built, while optimising utilisation of these and existing stations by providing funding to support the purchase of vehicle fleets, which can be refuelled at all HRS.
