October 2013: Swindon Hydrogen Roadmap is endorsed by Swindon Borough Council
Forward Swindon & Swindon Borough Council are pleased to announce the formation of the Swindon Hydrogen Group, with the aim to establish Swindon as a ‘Centre of Excellence’ in the UK for hydrogen technologies and services. The Group will deliver against a new Hydrogen Roadmap with the aim of developing and delivering an integrated programme of hydrogen-based projects through a dedicated consortium, to 2020.
The document can be viewed and downloaded in the Resources area of this page:
Swindon Hydrogen Group Members so far include: Forward Swindon, Swindon Borough Council , Business West, Swindon Commercial Services, Honda, ITM Power, Johnson Matthey, Wales & West Utilities, Advanced Plasma Power, Swindon University Technical College, Science Museum, Swindon Wiltshire LEP, and the University of Bath. Please get in touch if you'd like to know more.
Following the success of the UK's first open-access hydrogen vehicle refuelling station in Swindon, the project is now in its second year of development. This stage involves BOC, Honda, Forward Swindon and a larger consortium of project partners including local construction and maintenance company, Swindon Commercial Services (SCS Ltd) working together to pilot hydrogen fuel in a fleet of converted commercial vehicles.
Powering environmental performance in Swindon
- The new pilot project involves the conversion a number of Ford Transit vans to dual fuel - they will be able to run on hydrogen, or diesel. Hydrogen is an environmentally friendly fuel that only produces water emissions. The SCS vans can "fill up" at the hydrogen refuelling station based at the Honda factory.
- The pilot sets out to demonstrate the practicalities of using hydrogen fuel in an everyday work setting, in a drive to encourage other operators of commercial fleets to develop their own hydrogen-fuel initiatives.
- The project will record the costs, efficiency and ease of use in 5 converted vans, going about their normal daily business.
- Forward Swindon and other Swindon-based experts have created the 'Swindon Hydrogen Group': a network of commercial organisations contributing their skills and experience to the project.
The UK’s first public-access hydrogen refuelling station was host to seven fuel-cell cars as they filled up at Swindon on the UK leg of the H2 Moves European Hydrogen Road Tour.