The first refuelling of a hydrogen vehicle has taken place in Scotland's Orkney Islands as part of a European Union pilot project to use excess renewable energy.
The five-year Building Innovative Green Hydrogen Systems in an Isolated Territory (BIG HIT) project has carried out the first refuelling of the fleet of five zero-emission Renault Kangoo vans equipped with the Symbio hydrogen range extender at the ITM Power refuelling station at Hatston.
It is a first step towards creating a genuine hydrogen territory in the Orkney Islands. The €10.9 million (US$12.8 million) project involves 12 participants based in six countries.
The Orkney Islands were chosen for this development because of the need to store excess renewable energy and use it for transport and heat.
A net exporter of electricity since 2013, the Orkney Islands have more than 50MW of installed wind, wave and tidal capacity, generating more than 46GWhr per year of renewable power.
Energy used to produce the hydrogen for BIG HIT is provided by the community-owned wind turbines on the islands of Shapinsay and Eday, which lose more than 30 per cent of their annual output due to grid capacity restrictions.
The hydrogen is produced on site at the European Marine Energy Centre on Eday, then transported to Kirkwall in 250-kilogram Calvera hydrogen tube trailers on board the inter-island ferry service.
It supplies the hydrogen fuel cell installed at Kirkwall Harbour and will also be used for the Orkney Islands Council fleet of five zero-emission vans.