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Touraine Vallée de l’Indre launches its H2 station

25/09/2019

On the 25th of September, the community of communes south of Tours launched the first hydrogen filling station in the Centre-Val de Loire region. Located in Sorigny, within the Isoparc business park, this station has a filling capacity of 20 kg of hydrogen gas per day at 350 bar.

It was built by McPhy and is operated directly by Touraine Vallée de l’Indre, owner of the facility. Additionally, the station is located in the car park of the community hotel.

This load point will be used to power a fleet of 10 Renault Kangoo ZE hydrogen, two of which belong to the Centre d’études du Ripault (CER). The municipalities of Esvres-sur-Indre, Montbazon, Monts, Sainte-Catherine-de-Fierbois, Sorigny, Thilouze, Veigné and the Indre Valley Community of Communes have each purchased one of these fuel cell equipped vehicles.

Phase 2 will see the development of a hydrogen production facility from renewable energy sources. The station will be installed near the new traffic command centre, close to the A10 motorway. The site will be covered with 15,000 m2 of solar panels, and will generate enough production from renewable resources for electrolysis hydrogen production. In Phase 2, the station will be able to meet the needs of heavy vehicles such as trucks and the H2 refuse collector planned under the HECTOR project.

This launch is also an opportunity to present the 15 hydrogen-powered bicycles of Pragma Industrie acquired by the local authorities to elected officials and guests. They were available for lease this summer in Azay-Le-Rideau and Bréhémont (area that connects the junction point between Indre and Loire with bicycle lanes and houses a filling station provided by Atawey). The University of Tours has also conducted a study on the acceptability of this new type of electric powered bicycle.

Touraine Vallée de l’Indre has made hydrogen production one of its major focus points in its climate change strategy, which is now entering its concrete phase.

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