NEL ASA: Partners with Praxair for Norwegian hydrogen refuelling station showcase

Uno-X Hydrogen AS, a NEL ASA (NEL) joint venture, has entered into an agreement with a Norwegian affiliate of Praxair, a leading global industrial gas company, as a strategic alliance to install 20 hydrogen refuelling stations, covering all the major cities in Norway by 2020. As part of the agreement, Praxair’s Norwegian affiliate will aqcuire a 20 percent ownership interest in the joint venture.

“We are proud to annouce Praxair as a member of our strategic alliance and investor for the development of a nationwide hydrogen station network in Norway. Praxair is a global hydrogen supplier and we see the Norwegian rollout as a global showcase for the future development of hydrogen networks in other key countries, like the US, Germany and Japan,” says Jon André Løkke, CEO of NEL ASA.

Following the agreement, Praxair’s Norwegian affiliate will hold 20 percent of Uno-X Hydrogen, with Uno-X Gruppen and NEL holding 41 percent and 39 percent, respectively. The joint venture will build a network of hydrogen refuelling stations with hydrogen production, allowing fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) to operate in and between all the major cities in Norway. The stations will be deployed in cities like Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, Stavanger, and Kristiansand, along with corresponding corridor locations.

“Our joint venture will identify and develop the production infrastructure necessary to support a Norwegian network of refuelling stations. We believe that working closely with gas and oil companies, like we have done in Denmark and are now doing in Norway, is a recipe that can be successfully replicated around the globe,” says Løkke.