Technology developments in the field of fuel cells and related components allow the hydrogen energy stakeholders to develop more and more ambitious demonstration programs, in terms of number of vehicles presented, type of vehicles, refueling pressures, etc...

From the CUTE project where quantities of hydrogen dispensed, by site, ranged from 120 to 150 kg per day at 350 bar, we are now working on projects, such as for BC Transit in Whistler, BC, where up to 1000 kg of hydrogen must be dispensed per day to the vehicles at 350 bar.

Those demonstration programs can actually be seen as one of the last step to pass before the commercialization of fuel cell (or Hydrogen ICE) vehicles.

This article will review, on the infrastructure and refueling station side what are the key drivers for the design of the 1000kg/day installations and where are the technological bottlenecks.

A short technological review of the different current options available will be done as well as a discussion of the pros and the cons of each one.

The key components to be developed in the coming years in order to successively pass this step and think about the 10000 plus kg/day hydrogen refueling station will be presented.

A discussion regarding the necessary improvements of codes and standards will be made.