This specialized hydrogen fueling station serves a fleet of eight shuttle buses with internal combustion engines that run on hydrogen.

In May 2007, Governor Charlie Crist helped dedicate Florida’s first hydrogen fueling station, located on property and owned by Progress Energy near the Orlando International Airport.  The hydrogen fueling station was designed to fuel Ford V-10, E-450 hydrogen-powered shuttle buses that transport visitors as part of a partnership with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Ford Motor Co. and ChevronTexaco Corp.

The station features a fully integrated system for producing hydrogen on site from natural gas. The hydrogen is then purified, compressed and stored, ready to be dispensed as transportation fuel.

The Ford hydrogen shuttle buses use an internal combustion engine designed to run on hydrogen fuel instead of gasoline. The project operates eight vehicles with a range of up to 150 miles and near-zero emissions, including carbon dioxide.

Hydrogen Fueling Station at Progress Energy’s Jamestown Operating Center

As part of a multi-year demonstration and validation project of hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles, Progress Energy partnered with Ford, BP America, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Department of Energy on the installation of a hydrogen-production fueling station at one of Progress Energy Florida’s Operation Centers.
 
The fueling station used electrolysis technology to extract hydrogen from water.  The resulting fuel was dispensed in a high pressure gas form to the specialized hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

Progress Energy operated the fueling station, completing more than 3,200 fuelings, the last of which was completed on September 30, 2009.  The hydrogen equipment from the station was transferred to NASA and the Ford fuel cell vehicle fleet was shipped to Iceland to continue research on the development of alternative fuel vehicles.