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The warning indicators appeared final yr when Shell scrapped its plans to construct 48 hydrogen refueling stations for mild responsibility automobiles in California. The corporate was in line for over $40 million in state incentives to put in these fueling stations, however even that was not sufficient to maneuver the mission ahead. In September, Shell closed three of its 5 hydrogen stations within the state.

“We are able to affirm that Shell has discontinued its plan to construct and function further light-duty automobile fueling stations in California,” an organization spokesperson tells Hydrogen Perception. “We’ll proceed to spend money on hydrogen in a disciplined method, with a deal with hard-to-abate sectors comparable to trade and heavy responsibility transport and emphasis on key areas the place we have now aggressive benefit and powerful adjacencies with our current enterprise. Shell stays lively in hydrogen in California the place we function three heavy responsibility stations as a part of mission ZANZEFF: Zero and Close to Zero-Emission Freight Services Shore to Retailer Challenge.”

In July, the corporate formally rejected the funding out there from the state of California, saying in a letter written by Abhishek Banerjee, Shell’s hydrogen industrial supervisor within the US, “Political and financial uncertainty within the preliminary levels of market deployment current a major threat in additional funding. These boundaries should be overcome so as to allow future funding from Shell on this phase of the market.” He additionally wrote that the mission had encountered difficulties getting permits and sourcing inexperienced hydrogen, and confronted excessive development prices.

The California-based commerce physique Hydrogen Gas Cell Partnership states on its web site that H2 filling stations price an “estimated” $2 million to construct, a sum that could be tough to ever recoup, provided that solely 17,284 gasoline cell automobiles have ever been bought or leased within the state. California’s largest H2 gasoline retailer, True Zero, operates 37 of the 53 hydrogen filling stations within the California. It not too long ago hiked the worth of hydrogen in any respect its pumps to $36 per kg, up from round $30/kg. As not too long ago as April 2021, it was charging simply $13.14 per kg. In accordance with Hydrogen Perception calculations, this now means a Tesla EV is now roughly 14 occasions cheaper to run than a Toyota hydrogen automotive within the state.

Shell closed three of its 5 hydrogen stations final fall, calling the closures “momentary” however declining to say once they may reopen. Hydrogen refueling stations are likely to undergo from severe reliability points as a result of nature of liquid hydrogen, which is notoriously tough to deal with. Iwatani, a Japanese fuel firm that is without doubt one of the two largest names in American hydrogen filling stations, is presently suing Nel, the Norwegian firm that offered the core expertise for its stations, claiming it was bamboozled by that firm.

Shell Drops The Different Shoe

Now we all know these three stations and the 2 that remained open are all being taken out of service. Shell Hydrogen will completely shut all seven of its California pumping stations instantly, the corporate confirmed this week. It would not function mild responsibility hydrogen stations within the U.S., which represents one other blow to the struggling hydrogen automotive market in the one state the place the gasoline is extensively out there in any respect.

A Shell spokesman advised Hydrogen Perception on February 9, 2024, “Shell discontinued the construct out of its mild responsibility hydrogen station community in California in 2023, and after momentary closure of 5 of its seven mild responsibility stations, made the choice to completely shut its mild responsibility station community in California in early 2024. This was attributable to a lot of market components.” Shell will proceed to function three H2 filling stations for heavy responsibility automobiles within the state.

Shell beforehand advised Hydrogen Perception in December that it might prioritize hydrogen for heavy responsibility mobility, whereas investing in EV charging to decarbonize mild responsibility automobiles. In 2022, Shell closed all three of its hydrogen filling stations within the UK. The corporate and its accomplice, Motive, stated they had been refocusing their enterprise on serving heavy responsibility vans, which these three websites wouldn’t be capable of accommodate.

The choice to desert the California marketplace for mild responsibility hydrogen fueled automobiles may additionally mirror an absence of demand. Whereas California was one of many few markets for hydrogen powered automobiles to develop this yr, solely 3,143 had been registered in 2023, which was lower than 1% of battery electrical automobiles bought in the identical interval, based on the newest figures from the California Power Fee.

The Dispute Behind The Hydrogen Fueling Station Closures

Iwatani’s American subsidiary alleges in court docket paperwork seen by Hydrogen Perception that Nel had by no means truly examined its H2Stations in “real-world industrial circumstances” previous to promoting seven of them for the Californian market, structuring its contracts in order that solely the Norwegian agency would have visibility over any issues with the tools. “This scheme was designed to permit [Nel] to cover defects within the tools, management data prospects obtained concerning issues that had been encountered, and use prospects’ tools for discipline testing and R&D with out their data and at their expense,” Iwatani alleges.

Iwantani additionally claims that the H2Station management programs and software program had not been accomplished by the point its refueling factors had been put in, alleging that Nel was nonetheless writing the code whereas workers in its Denmark workplace ran tools remotely with out Iwatani’s data. “This shifted the price of discipline testing the H2Stations to [Iwatani] and allowed [Nel] to take them into the market earlier than they had been correctly examined or prepared for precise industrial use by prospects, and lengthy earlier than the software program underlying the Management Programs and Software program was truly created,” the lawsuit continues.

The Japanese firm additionally argues that the Norwegian agency had misrepresented its monitor document, claiming that the tools bought to different firms “was truly faulty, had disastrous efficiency information, and was stricken by fixed breakdowns and failures that induced the shoppers to incur tens of millions of {dollars} in misplaced income and different damages.” We right here at CleanTechnica aren’t consultants on enterprise transactions, however an informal studying of the complaints in opposition to Nel appear to point a surprising lack of due diligence on the a part of the Japanese agency.

Gas Cell Automobile Homeowners Undergo

Having Shell pull the plug on its hydrogen refueling plans ought to give Toyota Mirai, Hyundai Nexo, and Honda Readability Gas Cell house owners pause. The expertise has struggled to catch on, because the stations and their gasoline stay costly. Although hydrogen automotive producers normally embrace a considerable amount of free gasoline within the buy of a automobile, as soon as that runs out shoppers are left to purchase very costly hydrogen from stations which might be usually damaged, out of gasoline, or swarmed with lengthy strains. It’s why used hydrogen automobiles are so low cost, and why they nonetheless aren’t a very good deal.

Shell, with its a long time of expertise within the fossil gasoline trade, was presupposed to make driving a hydrogen powered automotive cheaper and spearhead the constructing of a sturdy fueling infrastructure. “If even a fossil large like Shell can’t justify investing in the way forward for mild responsibility hydrogen infrastructure, we’re undecided who can,” says Inside EVs.