FirstElement Fuel (FEF) announced the public opening of a new high-capacity retail hydrogen station in Oakland, CA, expanding its True Zero hydrogen network to 41 fully public, retail locations. The new hydrogen station, which uses FEF’s proprietary design, has four dispensers capable of simultaneously providing H70 standard fills with a capacity of 1600 kilograms (approx. 3,527 lb.) per day (or the equivalent of refueling 450 hydrogen-powered cars per day). The Oakland station represents the ninth such high-output station installed and operated by FEF.

FEF said it overcame many challenges to develop, permit and open the station, which was partly funded by California Energy Commission (CEC) grant money, in a Disadvantaged Community (DAC). FEF is also commissioning its multi-use heavy-duty truck hydrogen station near the Port of Oakland (the Oakland Multi-Use Station) and breaking ground on a new retail hydrogen station in Redwood City, CA.

Once operational, FEF said the Oakland Multi-Use Station, which also uses FEF’s proprietary design, will be the largest heavy-duty hydrogen refueling truck station in the world with the capability to handle heavy-duty, medium-duty and light-duty hydrogen-powered vehicles. The station is part of a public and private partnership in which Hyundai Motor Company will supply 30 XCIENT Fuel Cell trucks.

The project, titled NorCAL Zero, was jointly funded by the California Energy Commission (CEC) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and is being managed by the Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE). FEF said it designed the station, which is nearing completion, with a unique architecture that will yield 18,000 kilograms (approx. 39,683 lb.) per day capacity (enough to fill as many as 200 heavy-duty trucks and 400 light-duty vehicles a day) and make it the first station in the world to deploy fast-fill components and protocols capable of filling a truck with 80 kilograms (approx. 176 lb.) of hydrogen in under 10 minutes.

FEF’s latest retail station to break ground is in Redwood City, CA, and is supported in part by grant funding from the California Energy Commission. The Redwood City station will add a new refueling location with four dispensers to California’s hydrogen refueling network and become FEF’s 42nd hydrogen station.