Towngas to build hydrogen-powered EV charging stations amid mixed industry signals
‘Once our business scales up, the costs of electricity generated from hydrogen will be lower than other green power sources,’ COO Cheng says
Hong Kong’s major natural gas company is looking to produce hydrogen for application in other industries, showing commitment to the market at a time when companies and governments are cancelling or scaling back plans amid cost challenges.
Hong Kong and China Gas, or Towngas as the sole natural gas producer is known, will start work on building the city’s first public electric vehicle (EV) charging station powered by hydrogen, it said on Friday. The venture was expected to commence operations next year, it added.
The firm will extract hydrogen from its existing gas network, chief operating officer Don Cheng Hill-kwong said, as part of its contribution to Hong Kong’s 2050 peak-emissions target. It would initially feature five charging piles, while the power production costs would be higher compared to other power sources, he said.
“Once our business scales up, we believe the costs of electricity generated from hydrogen will be lower than other green power sources,” he added.
Towngas’ announcement added to recent mixed signals from the hydrogen industry amid challenges in production costs, demand and commercialisation prospects for the low-carbon fuel.
Earlier this month, Hyundai Motor revealed plans to deploy 1,000 hydrogen fuel-cell trucks in southern Guangdong province by 2029. The South Korean carmaker earlier said it would open a dedicated centre in mainland China to focus on hydrogen fuel cell technologies.