Island of Hawai?i Hydrogen Fueling Station – Progress Report & Lessons Learned

This project has been established to “de-risk” and support the implementation of a hydrogen public transportation system in Hawaiʻi starting with the County of Hawaiʻi. The Hawaiʻi Natural Energy Institute (“HNEI”) installed and commissioned a hydrogen production and dispensing station on the Island of Hawaiʻi at the Natural Energy Laboratory Hawaiʻi Authority (“NELHA”). The objective of the project is to evaluate the technical and financial performance, the durability of the equipment, and support an initial fleet of three hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Buses (“FCEB”) operated by the County of Hawaiʻi Mass Transit Agency (“MTA”). The knowledge gained in this project will inform the MTA on benefits and issues associated with transitioning from a diesel bus fleet to a zero emissions FCEB fleet in support of the State of Hawaiʻi’s and the County of Hawaiʻi’s clean transportation goals. Development of hydrogen-based transportation systems requires infrastructure to produce, compress, store, and deliver the hydrogen; a means to dispense the fuel; and vehicles to use the hydrogen. The HNEI hydrogen station at NELHA, located on the west side of the Island of Hawaii (“Big Island”), has been designed to dispense hydrogen at 350 bar (5,000 psi). In place of ground-mounted gaseous hydrogen tank storage, HNEI will demonstrate centralized hydrogen production and distributed dispensing with a fleet of three hydrogen transport trailers (“HTT”). Located 50 yards from a surf break, the station is exposed to the highest levels of salt air and resulting corrosion. HNEI has delivered training to bus drivers and first responders.