Building a Refuelling Station Is Not Enough
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HYDROGEN
Building a Refuelling Staon
Is Not Enough
A staon built at a fracon of the cost of subsidised projects, cascade refuelling without a chiller,
and a new staon in the Zlín Region. Jan Světlík and Vladimír Dynda discuss what the Ostrava pilot
staon has delivered aer four years, where hydrogen mobility is encountering obstacles, and why
refuelling staons alone are not enough.
In 2022, you built a hydrogen refuelling station
in Ostrava, which has been presented as an important
starting point for hydrogen mobility in the Czech
Republic. What has it demonstrated after four years?
Vladimír Dynda: The station fulfilled its purpose
by demonstrating that it is possible to build a relatively
simple facility without state support – quickly
and without unnecessary additional costs. As a pilot
project, the station also provided valuable practical
experience for the designers, contractors and operators
involved, and clearly helped build expertise in the field.
Jan Světlík: The station has absolutely fulfilled its
purpose, because it gave us experience of how hydrogen
can be dispensed using an innovative approach. We
invested in the station and developed the solution
together with APT. We did not want to spend a huge
amount of money, and it really did cost just a fraction
of what subsidised stations cost. At the same time, we
developed a new, revolutionary cascade refuelling
method that eliminates the need for the chiller normally
used in such systems, which significantly increases
the overall cost of a station. As a result, we now have
a proven technology, and it has moved us forward
tremendously.
How is hydrogen mobility developing
from your perspective?
Jan Světlík: For me, the development of hydrogen
mobility has been an absolute disappointment, because
solutions that work are simply not being used. When
it comes to stations built through subsidy programmes,
contracting authorities demand the most expensive
technologies, which ultimately undermines the entire
development of hydrogen mobility. For example,
the City of Ostrava awarded a contract for a refuelling
station worth CZK 200 million, even though it should
cost around CZK 50 million. It all comes down
to the investor setting the right requirements.
It is often said that without refuelling stations there
will be no hydrogen vehicles, while without vehicles
there is no economic case for building stations.
Who, in your view, needs to take the first financially
risky step?
Vladimír Dynda: I am convinced that the first step
must be to establish suitable hydrogen refuelling
infrastructure. The responsibility for taking that step
– or rather for creating the conditions that make
it possible – lies with those responsible for national
policy on environmental protection and the related
priorities, such as increasing the share of domestically
produced energy, by which we mean renewable
energy. In practice, these are the Ministries
of Transport, Industry and Trade, and the Environment.
Thanks to their efforts, a number of pilot projects have
already been implemented. A systematic approach
in this direction will ultimately lead to broader
interest. After all, two of the four public hydrogen
refuelling stations were established through private
initiatives without state support, while the other two
were built with public support. I would also add that
there are another two stations in the Czech Republic
located at organisations such as public research
institutions (v.v.i.).
In our interview in 2023, you said that
in the Czech Republic there was a great deal
of talk about hydrogen, but few actual projects
and companies making a living from it. What has
changed at Cylinders Holding since then? How
many hydrogen solutions have you delivered,
and to which countries?
Jan Světlík: Our hydrogen projects are growing
worldwide. We supply half the world – across Europe
and the Americas, while Australia is a major market
for us, and we also supply a great deal to South
Korea. In the Czech Republic, we are probably