A full-fledged hydrogen station has arisen on Toyota-owned land leased to Air Liquide. This station has been designed and built by Air Liquide and will not only serve fuel cell cars such as the Toyota Mirai, but also trucks and buses.
Ms Annemie Turtelboom, Vice-Minister-President of the Flemish Government, Flemish Minister for Budget, Finance and Energy was present on Friday 22 April to officially open the very first of 20 planned hydrogen stations in Flanders.
Joining her were two representatives of the European Commission, Mr. Nikolaus Von Peter (Directorate-General for Transport) and Mr. Robert Schröder (Directorate-General for Research and Innovation) as well as a vast delegation of all the partners, joining efforts to move the station from the drawing board to reality.
© Robin De Raedt
Partners in this project originate from both the private and public sector. Air Liquide will operate this station on land provided by Toyota Motor Europe. The building is part of the SWARM-project (Small 4-Wheel fuel cell passenger vehicle Applications in Regional and Municipal transport) which aims to supply 90 hydrogen-powered city cars to Europe, in regions such as the Brussels region and the Wer-Ems region in Germany. And finally FCH-JU, a public/private partnership aiming to support the development of applications involving hydrogen energy, has been contributing financially to the station.
© Robin De Raedt
We feel it can provide an answer to some of the key environmental challenges, such as global warming and air quality. Hydrogen plays a key role in the Environmental Challenges we set out for 2050. One of them is to achieve 90% CO2 emissions reduction for new vehicles by 2050 compared to 2010. 2050 seems far away but to reach our goal THEN we need to act NOW!
© Robin De Raedt
At the start we may be selling only a few Mirai and this station may be just the beginning. But it’s a step. And we are convinced it is the accumulation of these small steps that will ultimately lead to a zero-emission society.
The opening of this hydrogen station in the Brussels region paves the way for the Belgian start of sales of the Toyota Mirai. Belgium is the 4th European country to start selling the fuel cell car following UK, Germany and Denmark. Later this year three more countries will introduce the Mirai: Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands.
