Incident met openbaar waterstoftankstation in Noorwegen
Op maandag 10 juni vond er een incident plaats bij een openbaar waterstoftankstation in Kjørbo, nabij Oslo in Noorwegen. Er zijn geen slachtoffers gevallen. De schade aan het station is aanzienlijk, maar bleef beperkt tot de technische ruimte. De exacte toedracht is nog niet duidelijk. Nader onderzoek moet uitwijzen wat de exacte oorzaak was. De betreffende fabrikant heeft stations van vergelijkbaar type voorlopig gesloten tot de oorzaak duidelijk is.
In Nederland zijn geen stations van deze fabrikant aanwezig. Voor nadere informatie en updates verwijzen wij u naar de website van de betreffende fabrikant:
https://nelhydrogen.com/status-and-qa-regarding-the-kjorbo-incident/
Waterstoftankstations voldoen aan hoge veiligheidseisen en er zijn op (inter)nationaal niveau diverse normen en standaards beschikbaar.
Voor meer informatie over veiligheid en tankstations kunt u bijvoorbeeld de PGS-35 raadplegen: https://publicatiereeksgevaarlijkestoffen.nl/publicaties/PGS35.html
Hydrogen Europe heeft als volgt over het incident gecommuniceerd:
What happened?
As you might be aware, there has been an accident at the the Kjørbo hydrogen station at 17:40 CEST on June 10, 2019. The fire was contained just after 20:00 CEST of the same day.
What did NOT happen?
No serious injuries were reported. According to the Norwegian police reports, two people were treated for minor injuries due to an airbag triggered in a car nearby.
What was the cause?
At the moment, the cause remains unknown. Nel is working intensively to identify the root cause of the incident. Expert personnel are currently on the scene and actively contributing to the ongoing formal investigation. In addition, Nel has engaged fire and explosion safety consultants from Gexcon, who are on site and taking an active role to provide an independent incident report.
Why were the Nel HRS closed?
As a precautionary measure, Nel has recommended its customers put stations within the same product family on a temporary standby until the root cause has been identified. This includes stations both in Europe and in the US, on a total of 10 sites. Some operators have also independently decided to put stations on standby as an additional precaution.
What was the reaction of the OEMs?
There are some news outlets claiming that Hyundai and Toyota would have stopped sales. We were in contact with both and they informed us that:
- Toyota Norway has stressed that the sales have not stopped, but for the time being only the deliveries have been put on hold. “Toyota Norway has temporarily suspended Mirai deliveries as refuelling is currently not possible in the country. Toyota Norway will support any inconvenienced Mirai owner with the loan of another vehicle should they need it.” says an official statement from Toyota.
- Also Hyundai informed us that they have a similar position to the one of Toyota.
Remarks
Hydrogen is a hazardous substance. Gasoline, diesel and natural gas, are too. When handled correctly, however, hydrogen is just as safe as the other mentioned fuels, but less toxic, and an indispensable component in achieving our climate goals (storage for renewable electricity and fuel for emission-free long-distance vehicles). Now, the hydrogen sector needs to work even harder on its – already high – safety standards.
