IEEE Electrification Magazine - March 2018 - 40

The Rise of Hydrogen Fueling
for more than a decade, California, often in collaboration
with partners in academia, industry, and the u.s. department of energy (doe), has initiated several projects and
programs to understand and develop hydrogen fueling
infrastructure. some of the earliest research and demonstration projects in this area were carried out by the doe,
e.g., the California hydrogen Infrastructure Project and
general Motors' Project driveway. early state efforts such
as senate Bill 76 established funding for precommercial
demonstration hydrogen fueling stations. These stations
helped auto manufacturers test driver interactions with
their fC vehicle technologies and their future vehicle
release strategies. They also allowed for new technology,
hardware, and logistics and operation strategy testing in
the hydrogen distribution and dispensing supply chain.
as vehicle developments progressed and the potential
for a full commercial market launch became increasingly
favorable, hydrogen fueling gained more attention in
public-private coordination efforts. California passed further complementary legislation dedicated to expanding
the state's efforts to address the challenge of ZeV fueling availability. Passed in 2007, aB 118 established the
alternative and renewable fuel and vehicle technology
program (arfVTP) and fund, which provided state commitment to several alternative fuel options with the
promise of improving air quality and ghg emissions. This
program helped fund 20 of the first fully public, earlymarket-era hydrogen fueling stations in the state through
two rounds of project solicitations. It also included retail
capability upgrades to three demonstration-era stations,
several plug-in eV charging points, and other alternative
fueling installations.
By 2013, several public-private efforts and research
studies had come to the similar conclusion that a full
commercial market release of fCeVs would require
large-scale dedication to a concrete plan for hydrogen
station deployment well coordinated with auto manufacturers' aspirations for vehicle deployment schedules.
aB 8 was then passed in 2013 to provide further

Figure 2. A hydrogen fueling station in Hayward, California, operated
by TrueZero. (Photo courtesy of FirstElement Fuel.)

I EEE E l e c t r i f i c a t i on M a gaz ine / march 2018

certainty in funding for hydrogen fueling stations. aB 8
required that, every year, up to us$20 million of the
funds collected for arfVTP would be utilized for cofunding publicly available hydrogen fueling stations (figure 2).
In addition, the bill established that the California energy Commission and CarB would work cooperatively to
determine the needs for new hydrogen stations. It specifically defined the analysis metrics and reporting
needs, including coverage provided by stations (the
extent and degree of single-station and redundant fuel
availability to markets across the state), the amount of
new fueling capacity needed in the state's local fCeV
markets, and technological capabilities required of new
stations. This program has now expanded the total
number of funded station projects across the state to
more than 60.

Evolutions of the hydrogen Strategy
Principal Challenges in FCEV
and Hydrogen Deployment
The key to the success of these programs has been a longstanding commitment by the state and its private partners to well-coordinated hydrogen fueling network
development and fCeV deployment. The coordination
aspect has proven critical, demanding some of the most
focused attention. fundamentally, fCeVs and hydrogen
fueling stations' long-term success are dependent on one
another. If there is an insufficient number of hydrogen
fueling stations available, then prospective adopters will
not feel secure in the availability of fuel to support their
driving habits and may decide not to switch to zero-emission fCeVs. at the same time, if there are too few vehicles
made available to drivers in a market near fuel stations,
then stations may be underutilized. This limits revenue
and leads to an unfavorable business case for sustained
station operation.
at first, this appears to establish a paradox, with both
industries requiring an initial commitment from the
other. however, the state's efforts offered creative solutions to overcome this potential roadblock. The challenge
is still great; there is a significant amount of risk involved
in creating a new industry, not to mention the difficult
task of coordinating two industries. however, California's
efforts have been successful in moving these industries
forward. Infrastructure programs have evolved to support
financing of capital investments for hydrogen fueling stations, as well as operational costs for the first few years of
retail hydrogen sales. This enables the stations to be
developed and open slightly in advance of fCeV deployments. The capital and operations and maintenance
funding through the energy Commission improves the
business outlook during the high-risk years of a station's
operation. at the same time, this allows potential fCeV
adopters to see the development of hydrogen fueling
infrastructure in their area, providing greater certainty

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Electrification Magazine - March 2018