Oil giant Shell permanently shut down its seven light-duty hydrogen refuelling stations for passenger cars in California last week, as per the company’s memo to participating station owners.
Coverage
Hydrogen Insight was the first to report the news on Thursday, saying that Shell will leave just three H2 filling stations for heavy-duty vehicles in the state.
The closures’ coverage includes Shell stations across San Francisco, Berkeley, San Jose and Sacramento:
- 1250 University Ave, Berkeley CA
- 6141 Greenback Lane, Citrus Heights CA
- 3510 Fair Oaks Blvd, Sacramento CA
- 551 Third Street, San Francisco CA
- 1201 Harrison Street, San Francisco CA
- 3550 Mission Street, San Francisco CA
- 101 Bernal Road, San Jose CA
“Shell discontinued the build out of its light-duty hydrogen station network in California in 2023, and after temporary closure of five of its seven light-duty stations, made the decision to permanently close its light duty station network in California in early 2024.”
Shell spokesperson said on Friday
Shell scraps plans to build its light-duty hydrogen station network
As part of Shell’s plans to scale back its investments in hydrogen vehicle infrastructures, it also scrapped its previously announced project to develop 48 new hydrogen refuelling stations in California. Notably, this project had been awarded $40.8 million in grants.
The company reportedly conveyed it had “discontinued its plan to build and operate additional light-duty vehicle fueling stations in California,” according to Hydrogen Insight.
During this time, Shell had “temporarily” closed five of its H2 filling stations without indicating the exact reopening date.
However, recent changes prompted the company to permanently shut down all its hydrogen vehicle refuelling stations in California.
Driving factors
Shell’s move to close its hydrogen refuelling stations in the US is apparently due to “supply complications and other external market factors.”
Shell did not specify the factors prompting the decision to shut down its hydrogen refuelling stations. However, it could reflect a lack of demand for hydrogen-powered vehicles in the state.
California is among the few markets that witnessed growth in hydrogen-powered vehicle sales this year. However, the California Energy Commission’s data revealed that hydrogen vehicles’ registrations only reached 3,143 units in 2023, just less than 1% of all-electric vehicles (BEVs) in the same period.
Shell’s pivot away from the hydrogen industry will undoubtedly stimulate concern among Toyota Mirai, Hyundai Nexo, and Honda Clarity Fuel Cell owners. As the memo indicated, Shell was closing the stations “due to hydrogen supply complications and other external market factors,” which is not hard to understand what Shell Hydrogen Vice President Beard was referring to here.
