First SUPERMARKET Hydrogen fuel station at Sainsbury’s

Supermarket giant Sainsbury’s is planning to open the first hydrogen filling station by the end of 2014 at its store in Hendon, London as hydrogen cars start to arrive in the UK.

Part of the shopping ritual for many is topping up the petrol tank with sensibly priced fuel at supermarkets’ low price petrol stations, and by the end of the year you’ll also be able to top up the tank in your hydrogen car too.

With the first hydrogen-powered cars now arriving in the UK from Hyundai – and more from other makers on the way – Sainsbury’s has decided to dip its to in the water of what could be a big hydrogen revolution and is adding hydrogen refuelling facilities at its branch in Hendon, London, by the end of 2014.

The SmartFuel station will be able to offer refuelling for existing hydrogen-powered vehicles in London – taxis, buses and delivery vehicles – and for private cars too.

Avishai Moor, Sainsbury’s Fuel & Kiosk Category manager, said:

Hydrogen vehicles are both environmentally friendly as well as efficient so we are really excited about being the first UK supermarket to trial this new technology and make it accessible to our customers.

If Sainsbury’s find that installing a hydrogen filling station works (it’s part of the London Hydrogen Network Expansion (LHNE) project) we could potentially see a sensible hydrogen filling station network rolling out across other stores.