Industrial gases company BOC has announced that it is helping design and construct a hydrogen fuelling station in a further indication of the efforts being made to develop the infrastructure necessary to support the hydrogen economy.

The new development is located along Canada's Hydrogen Highway in Vancouver, British Columbia, at the Canadian National Research Council's Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation on the campus of the University of British Columbia (UBC).

BOC is working with the National Research Council (NRC) and Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) initiative, the Canadian Transportation Fuel Cell Alliance, to jointly fund and build the station. The equipment installation is to begin in November, with full system commissioning expected in the first quarter of 2005.

BOC will provide the engineering, hydrogen compression and composite hydrogen storage equipment and will also manage the hydrogen safety processes and system integration plans necessary to ensure the development of a safe, reliable and fully functioning hydrogen vehicle fuelling station and a comprehensive fuel quality testing program.

The first users of the NRC/UBC station will be the Vancouver Fuel Cell Vehicle Program (VFCVP), a co-operative venture consisting of a three-year evaluation of four fuel cell-powered Ford Focus cars under real world conditions.

The project is the second of seven proposed hydrogen fuelling stations planned for the length of highway that stretches from the Vancouver airport to Whistler. The British Columbia Hydrogen Highway is scheduled for completion in 2007 to support Canada in its hosting of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.