Toyota announces Victoria’s first hydrogen refuelling station
The carmaker is building a $7.4 million hydrogen centre at Altona.
Toyota Australia, with assistance from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), has today announced plans to create a hydrogen centre at its former manufacturing site in West Melbourne.
Part of a larger hydrogen project on the site, existing infrastructure will be refitted into the state's first integrated hydrogen site, including a commercial grade hydrogen refuelling station as well as an electrolyser and education centre.
Matt Callachor, president and CEO of Toyota Australia, says the project will help the company meet its target of zero CO2 emissions by 2050 and help push the industry towards renewable energy.
"Hydrogen has the potential to play a pivotal role in the future because it can be used to store and transport energy from wind, solar and other renewable sources to power many things, including vehicles like the Toyota Mirai Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV)," he said.
"Right now, the biggest factor to the success of hydrogen being widely available is the lack of infrastructure. The sooner we move to a zero emissions society, the better, and Toyota is committed to making this a reality."
Toyota will contribute $4.3 million towards the project, with the remaining $3.1 million coming from ARENA. Darren Miller, CEO of ARENA, believes the site could encourage adoption in a country that has been hesitant to adopt electric vehicles, compared to the rest of the world.
"The demonstration of low cost hydrogen production and distribution is key to the uptake of hydrogen-powered electric vehicles in areas such as truck, bus and government fleets. Toyota is helping to pave the way for more renewable powered vehicles in Australia, where the uptake of electric vehicles has been slower than other countries," he said.
"Australia holds a competitive advantage to play a global role in the emerging hydrogen export market due to our existing expertise and infrastructure. We're excited to see Toyota add their skills to the mix and be a major player in increasing the reach of hydrogen applications in different sectors."
Construction on the site will begin this year, with the electrolyser and refuelling station likely to be completed and in operation by late 2020.
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