HTEC and Shell Open Canada’s First Retail Hydrogen Refueling Station in Vancouver

HTEC (Hydrogen Technology & Energy Corporation) have recently opened Canada’s first hydrogen refueling station in partnership with Shell located in Vancouver. The station, which is located on busy Granville street outside the downtown core, is the first of six stations HTEC is building in Greater Vancouver and Victoria. The network of stations will allow for the deployment of the first 1,000 zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) in B.C. and HTEC will be partnering with Shell on three of the six locations. In addition to its partnership with Shell, HTEC is also working with others in industry and government to develop hydrogen refueling infrastructure in B.C. LGM Financial Services, who are a finance and insurance company supplying the automotive market, was an early sponsor of the network and was a huge part of moving the first station from concept to construction. Funding for this station also is provided by Western Economic Diversification Canada’s WINN program and the BC Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEMPR) Clean Vehicle Program and Low Carbon Fuel Regulations. “How fitting Canada’s first retail hydrogen station opens in Vancouver when the country’s first gas station also opened here, 111 years ago. Back then, even with only a few cars on the road, demand for gasoline was increasing and it made sense to build a fuelling station to support a growing network of automobiles. The same is true today: infrastructure must be in place to support FCEV rollouts, and HTEC is proud to be working with our partners to build the first wave of hydrogen refuelling stations in Canada, starting here in BC,” said HTEC CEO Colin Armstrong. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles utilize hydrogen to create electricity to propel the vehicle and offer another option aside from purely electric when it comes to zero emission vehicles but have similar fast-fueling function of a gas car. Many car manufacturers have expressed plans to manufacture a hydrogen fuel cell car in the near future including Toyota, Honda and Hyundai. HTEC says they will release more information about other stations in the network as it becomes available.