Near-term Location of Hydrogen Refueling Stations in Yokohama City from the Perspective of Safety

The roll-out of hydrogen refuelling stations is a key step in the transition to a hydrogen economy. Since Japan has been shifting from the demonstration stage to the implementation stage of a hydrogen economy, a near-term, city-level roll-out plan is required. The aim of this study is to plan near-term locations for building hydrogen refuelling stations in Yokohama City, from a safety perspective. Our planning provides location information for hydrogen refuelling stations in Yokohama City, for the period 2020–2030. Mobile type and parallel siting type refuelling stations have been considered in our planning, and locations were determined by matching supply and demand to safety concerns. Supply and demand were estimated from hybrid vehicle ownership data, and from space availability in existing gas stations. The results reaffirmed the importance of hydrogen station location planning, and showed that use of mobile type stations is a suitable solution in response to the uncertain fuel cell vehicle fuel demand level during the implementation stage of a hydrogen economy.