Shell closing its California hydrogen refueling stations

Oil giant Shell announced plans to close its California hydrogen refueling stations this week, as much of the automotive industry is continuing to develop hydrogen fuel cell solutions alongside the popularization of electric vehicles (EVs).

Shell will permanently close seven hydrogen stations in California this year, leaving just three remaining stations from the company in the state, according to a report from Hydrogen Insight. The locations of the closures are at Shell stations scattered throughout Northern California, located in San Francisco, Berkeley, San Jose and Sacramento.

“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,” said a Shell spokesperson on Friday. “This was due to a number of market factors.”

The energy company detailed the locations in a memo to participating station owners, as can be seen below in a screenshot, along with maps of the closed hydrogen sites.

Credit: Hydrogen Fuel Cell Partnership

The company also canceled plans for 48 new hydrogen refueling stations in the state, according to statements it made last year. In September, Shell said it had “discontinued its plan to build and operate additional light-duty vehicle fueling stations in California,” in a statement to Hydrogen Insight.

Meanwhile, automakers including Stellantis Pro One and a joint venture between General Motors (GM) and Honda have provided recent updates on hydrogen fuel cell production projects, while Toyota said in November that it expects to produce more hydrogen vehicles than solid-state EVs in 2030.

Shell last year acquired EV charging company Volta charge, and the acquisition is expected to help the company massively expand its Shell Recharge network. The company also partnered with Penske in a 2022 deal on light-duty EV charging, with Shell planning to deploy Level 2 electric truck charging stations in four U.S. states.

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