NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy

Efficiency & Renewable Energy, operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308

This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Next Generation Hydrogen Station Composite 

Data Products

Data through Quarter 4 of 2013

S. Sprik, J. Kurtz, and M. Peters

Technical Report

NREL/TP-5400-62027

May 2014
NOTICE

This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States government. Neither the United 

States government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any 

legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process 

disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial

product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its 

endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of 

authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States government or any agency thereof.

This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy

Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Available electronically at http://www.osti.gov/scitech

Available for a processing fee to U.S. Department of Energy

and its contractors, in paper, from:

U.S. Department of Energy

Office of Scientific and Technical Information

P.O. Box 62

Oak Ridge, TN 37831-0062

phone: 865.576.8401

fax: 865.576.5728

email: mailto:reports@adonis.osti.gov

Available for sale to the public, in paper, from:

U.S. Department of Commerce

National Technical Information Service

5285 Port Royal Road

Springfield, VA 22161

phone: 800.553.6847

fax: 703.605.6900

email: orders@ntis.fedworld.gov

online ordering: http://www.ntis.gov/help/ordermethods.aspx

Cover Photos: (left to right) photo by Pat Corkery, NREL 16416, photo from SunEdison, NREL 17423, photo by Pat Corkery, NREL 16560, photo by Dennis 

Schroeder, NREL 17613, photo by Dean Armstrong, NREL 17436, photo by Pat Corkery, NREL 17721.

Printed on paper containing at least 50% wastepaper, including 10% post consumer waste.
3

CDP-INFR-01

Hydrogen Dispensed by Quarter

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

2009Q1

2009Q2

2009Q3

2009Q4

2010Q1

2010Q2

2010Q3

2010Q4

2011Q1

2011Q2

2011Q3

2011Q4

2012Q1

2012Q2

2012Q3

2012Q4

2013Q1

2013Q2

2013Q3

2013Q4

Hydrogen Dispensed By Quarter

Hydrogen Dispensed [1,000 kg]

 Cumulative Hydrogen Dispensed = 43,821 kg 

0

5

10

15

20

25

Cumulative Amount [1,000 kg]

All Sites By Quarter

Cumulative By Site

NREL cdp_infr_01

Created: Apr-07-14 4:28 PM | Data Range: 2009Q1-2013Q4
4

CDP-INFR-02

Histogram of Fueling Rates

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

Avg Fuel Rate (kg/min)

Number of Fueling Events [1,000]

Histogram of Fueling Rates

3 minute fill of

5 kg

13,978 Events

Average = 0.55 kg/min

14% >1 kg/min

2% >1.67 kg/min

Reference Line at 1 kg/min

2012 MYPP Tech Val Milestone

NREL cdp_infr_02

Created: Apr-24-14 11:43 AM | Data Range: 2009Q1-2013Q4
5

CDP-INFR-03

Histogram of Fueling Times

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 0

0.5

1

1.5

Time (min)

Number of Fueling Events [1,000]

Histogram of Fueling Times

Average = 5.58 min

50% <5 min

19% <3 min

 Reference Line at 5 min

 2012 MYPP Tech Val Milestone (5 kg in 3 min)

NREL cdp_infr_03

Created: Apr-24-14 11:47 AM | Data Range: 2009Q1-2013Q4
6

CDP-INFR-04

Histogram of Fueling Amounts

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

Amount Fueled (kg)

Number of Fueling Events [1,000]

Histogram of Fueling Amounts

 Average = 2.46 kg 

NREL cdp_infr_04

Created: Apr-07-14 4:31 PM | Data Range: 2009Q1-2013Q4
7

CDP-INFR-05

Dispensed Hydrogen per Day of Week

Sun Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri Sat 0

5

10

15

20

Dispensed Hydrogen [% of total]

Day of Week

Dispensed Hydrogen per Day of Week

0

10

20

30

40

33 kg/day avg

Daily Average [kg]

All Stations

Individual Stations

NREL cdp_infr_05

Created: Apr-07-14 4:32 PM | Data Range: 2009Q1-2013Q4
8

CDP-INFR-06

Station Capacity Utilization

1 2 3 4 5 0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

Station (Sorted By Increasing Station Capacity)

Capacity Utilization 1 [%]

Station Capacity Utilization

57.8%

Maximum Daily Utilization

Maximum Quarterly Utilization2

Average Daily Utilization2

NREL cdp_infr_06

Created: Apr-07-14 4:33 PM | Data Range: 2009Q1-2013Q4

Note: The focus for early stations

is geographic coverage

1

Station nameplate capacity reflects a variety of system design consderations including system capacity, throughput,

 system reliability and durability, and maintenance. Actual daily usage may exceed nameplate capacity.

2

Maximum quarterly utilization considers all days; average daily utilization considers only days when at least one filling occurred
9

CDP-INFR-07

Station Usage

1 2 3 4 5 0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Station (Sorted By Increasing Station Capacity)

Fills Per Day 1

Station Usage

Maximum Daily Fills

Average Daily Fills2

NREL cdp_infr_07

Created: Apr-07-14 4:33 PM | Data Range: 2009Q1-2013Q4

Note: The focus for early stations

is geographic coverage

1

Excludes hydrogen fills of < 0.5 kg

2

Average daily fills considers only days when at least one fill occurred
10

CDP-INFR-08

Time Between Fueling

<0 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Simultaneous Fills

Back-to-Back Fills

8 % of fills are within 0-5 minutes of each other

71 % of fills have more than 20 minutes between them

14017 Total Fills

Time Between Fuelings* [min]

# of Fuelings [% of total]

Histogram of Time Between Fuelings

All Sites Combined

Individual Sites

200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 850 900 0

100

200

300

400

Final Pressures for Fills with <5 Minutes in Between

# of Fuelings

Final Pressure [bar]

Previous Fill

Next Fill

NREL cdp_infr_08

Created: Apr-07-14 4:34 PM | Data Range: 2009Q1-2013Q4 *Time is from end of fill to start of next fill.
11

CDP-INFR-09

Fueling Final Pressures

200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 850 900 0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

450 bar*

350 bar Fills (200 to 450 bar) 700 bar Fills ( > 450 bar)

Final Pressure [bar]

% of Fueling Events

Fueling Final Pressures

Avg Final Pressure = 346 bar

% of Fills > 350 bar = 46%

Number of Fills = 3880

Avg Final Pressure = 722 bar

% of Fills > 700 bar = 60%

Number of Fills = 9894

Average

Nominal

NREL cdp_infr_09

Created: Apr-24-14 2:09 PM | Data Range: 2009Q1-2013Q4 *The line at 450 bar separates 350 bar fills from 700 bar fills. It is slightly over 

the allowable 125% of nominal pressure (437.5 bar) from SAE J2601.
12

CDP-INFR-10

Cumulative Number of Stations
13

CDP-INFR-11

Hydrogen Stations by Type
14

CDP-INFR-12

Fueling Rates 350 vs. 700 bar

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

Avg Fuel Rate (kg/min)

Number of Fueling Events

Histogram of Fueling Rates

350 vs 700 bar Fills

3 minute fill of

5 kg

Fill Type Avg %>1 %>1.67 Count

------------- ---------- ------- --------- --------

350 bar 0.43 4 1% 3117

700 bar 0.64 22 3% 7265

350 bar

700 bar

Reference Line at 1 kg/min

2012 MYPP Tech Val Milestone

NREL cdp_infr_12

Created: Apr-07-14 4:36 PM | Data Range: 2009Q1-2013Q4
15

CDP-INFR-13

Number of Fueling Events per Hour

0 5 10 15 20 25 0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Number of Fuelings in an Hour

Frequency [% of total]

Number of Fuelings Per Hour

NREL cdp_infr_13

Created: Apr-07-14 4:38 PM | Data Range: 2009Q1-2013Q4

Average: 1.9 per hour

Median: 1.0 per hour

Max: 23.0 per hour
16

CDP-INFR-14

Hydrogen Dispensed per Hour

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Amount Fueled in an Hour [kg]

Frequency [% of total]

Hydrogen Dispensed Per Hour

NREL cdp_infr_14

Created: Apr-07-14 4:39 PM | Data Range: 2009Q1-2013Q4

Average: 4.4 kgs per hour

Median: 3.2 kgs per hour

Max: 50.9 kgs per hour
17

CDP-INFR-15

Number of Fills by Time of Day

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Number Included

19,698 fills

Number of Fueling Events per Time of Day

Time of Day [hours]

Total Number of Fills [% of Total]

NREL cdp_infr_15

Created: Apr-28-14 3:17 PM | Data Range: 2009Q1-2013Q4
18

CDP-INFR-16

Fueling Amounts per Time of Day

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Amount Included

45,732 kg

Fueling Amounts per Time of Day

Time of Day [hours]

Total Dispensed [% of Total]

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Max and Avg Dispensed [kg]

Total

Max

Average

NREL cdp_infr_16

Created: Apr-07-14 4:41 PM | Data Range: 2009Q1-2013Q4
19

CDP-INFR-17

Fueling Rates by Amount Filled

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

Average Fuel Rate [kg/min]

Number of Fueling Events

Histrogram of Fueling Rates by Amounts

0 to 0.5 kg

0.5 to 1 kg

1 to 2 kg

2 to 4 kg

4 to 6 kg

Reference Line at 1 kg/min

2012 MYPP Tech Val Milestone

NREL cdp_infr_17

Created: Apr-07-14 11:43 AM | Data Range: 2009Q1-2013Q4
20

CDP-INFR-18

Fueling Amount vs. Time to Fill
21

CDP-INFR-19

Hydrogen Dispensed by Month

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

200920102011201220132014

Monthly Amount [kg]

Hydrogen Dispensed By Month

NREL cdp_infr_19

Created: Apr-07-14 4:43 PM | Data Range: 2009Q1-2013Q4
22

CDP-INFR-20

Number of Fills by Month

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

200920102011201220132014

Monthly Number of Fills

Number of Fills By Month

NREL cdp_infr_20

Created: Apr-08-14 9:22 AM | Data Range: 2009Q1-2013Q4
23

CDP-INFR-21

Maintenance by Equipment Type

5%

6%

7%

9%

18%

19%

20%

Total Events = 1,9471

39% unscheduled

entire

system 46

multiple

systems 155

misc 372

classified

events1 1374

Event Count

14%

23%

6%

14%

31%

Total Hours = 19,081

19% unscheduled

hydrogen compressor

dispenser

safety

thermal management

reformer

electrolyzer

feedwater system

sensors

software

fuel system

air system

NREL cdp_infr_21

Created: Apr-10-14 4:20 PM | Data Range: 2009Q1-2013Q4

Maintenance by Equipment Type

MISC includes the following failure modes: seal, nitrogen system, storage,

valves, electrical, purifier, control electronics, fittings&piping, other
24

CDP-INFR-22

Maintenance Labor Hours Breakdown

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 0

 5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Labor Hours Per Event

Frequency (% of total)

Infrastructure Maintenance Labor Hours Breakdown

NREL cdp_infr_22

 0

10

20

30

Sites

Event Labor (hrs)

Maximum and Mean Event Labor Hours

for each site.

*excluded outlier

Mean

Max

NREL cdp_infr_22

Created: Apr-24-14 3:04 PM | Data Range: 2009Q1-2013Q4

>24

92% of repairs require less than the mean of 11.1 hours of labor.

Median labor hours: 2.8
25

CDP-INFR-23

Equipment Category Repair Time

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

AIR SYSTEM

CONTROL ELECTRONICS

DISPENSER

ELECTRICAL

ELECTROLYZER

ENTIRE SYSTEM

FEEDWATER SYSTEM

FITTINGS&PIPING

FUEL SYSTEM

HYDROGEN COMPRESSOR

MULTIPLE SYSTEMS

NITROGEN SYSTEM

OTHER

PURIFIER

REFORMER

SAFETY

SEAL

SENSORS

SOFTWARE

STORAGE

THERMAL MANAGEMENT

VALVES

Repair Labor Time (Hours)

Equipment Category Repair Time

NREL cdp_infr_23

Created: Apr-10-14 4:20 PM | Data Range: 2009Q1-2013Q4

75% Percentile

Median

25% Percentile

Mean
26

CDP-INFR-24

Failure Modes for Top Equipment Categories

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

HYDROGEN COMPRESSOR

DISPENSER

SAFETY

THERMAL MANAGEMENT

Event Count

20%*

19%*

18%*

9%*

FLUID LEAK_NON_HYDROGEN

HYDROGEN LEAK

IMPROPER INSTALLATION

INSPECT TROUBLE ALARM OR REPORT

MANUFACTURING DEFECT

REPLACE FAILED PARTS

SOFTWARE BUG

MISC

SCHEDULED (PREV MAINT, UPGRADES)

0 1000 2000 3000 4000

HYDROGEN COMPRESSOR

DISPENSER

SAFETY

THERMAL MANAGEMENT

Labor Hours

31%*

14%*

6%*

23%*

NREL cdp_infr_24

Created: Apr-28-14 2:33 PM | Data Range: 2009Q1-2013Q4

Failure Modes for Top Equipment Categories

* Percentage of total events or hours.

MISC includes the following failure modes: flow low, inspect trouble alarm or report,

other, out of calibration, pressure high, software bug, other
27

0

1

2

3

4

5

H2O = 22*

H2O = 400*

H2

O = 97*

H2O = 20*

H2

O = 52*

H2

O = 6.2*

H2O = 55*

HC = 2.2*

HC = 7.5*

CO = 2.7*

HC = 8*

CO = 4.5*

CO2 = 1.2*

2009Q12009Q22009Q32009Q42010Q12010Q22010Q32010Q42011Q12011Q22011Q32011Q42012Q12012Q22012Q32012Q42013Q12013Q22013Q32013Q4

Number of Samples Reported

H2 Quality

NREL cdp_infr_25

Created: Apr-24-14 4:13 PM | Data Range: 2009Q1-2013Q4

23 of 33 samples ( 70%) met the SAE

J2719 guidelines. Consecutive

samples may be for a single issue. 

*

Values are in micromole/mole. Only values that exceed SAE J2719 guideline are shown in text.

CDP-INFR-25

Hydrogen Quality