Last year (2021) saw more hydrogen refuelling stations “than ever before” begin operating, according to H2Stations.
On 1 February, it published its latest annual assessment, where it revealed that 142 hydrogen refuelling stations went into operation worldwide – 37 in Europe, 89 in Asia, and 13 in North America. It now means there are 685 refuelling stations operating worldwide, with concrete plans in place for a further 252 – Spain and New Zealand are among those to announce such plans for the first time. Hungary and Slovenia, meanwhile, became new countries to offer hydrogen refuelling facilities in 2021, taking the total to 33 countries.
As of the end of 2021, there are now 228 hydrogen refuelling stations in Europe. Germany has the most (101), followed by France (41), the UK (19), Switzerland (12) and the Netherlands (11). North America, meanwhile, has 86 stations overall, with the majority in California (60), with 11 new stations entering into operation there in 2021.
In Asia, there are 363 stations in operation, with Japan (159) hosting the most. China has 105, though these are used almost exclusively for the refuelling of buses or truck fleets, while Korea saw the most new refuelling stations open in 2021, with 36. It means it now has 95 overall and is increasingly expanding infrastructure for all fuel cell electric vehicles.
