OMV opens hydrogen filling station in Asten near Linz

News Release, September 13, 2016 - 13:00 pm (CEST)

• OMV now operates the third hydrogen filling station in Austria
• Hydrogen set to play also a role in the fuel mix of the future
• Important step in readying major European traffic routes for renewable energy on the road

Robert Seeber, member of the Federal Council, Karl Kollingbaum, Mayor of the Borough of Asten, and Wilfried Gepp, Manager of the OMV filling station business in Austria, opened the OMV hydrogen filling station in Asten, near Linz in Upper Austria today. OMV thereby now operates the third hydrogen filling station in Austria. OMV, the international, integrated oil and gas company, headquartered in Vienna, has therefore taken another key step towards readying major European traffic routes for hydrogen on the road. The new filling station is situated directly on the Westautobahn A1 – one of Europe’s most important traffic axes. Officially opened today, the OMV station enhances Austria’s connection to a Europe-wide hydrogen filling station network for vehicles powered by fuel cells. 

The issue of hydrogen on the road is one of the future scenarios for OMV and the company already has extensive experience in producing hydrogen. The Schwechat Refinery can already produce around 50,000 tonnes of hydrogen a year; this is enough to power Vienna’s fleet of 850,000 vehicles for a half year. “We assume that the fuel mix at the filling stations of the future will be far more diverse. Fossil fuels will continue to play an important role. But it is also clear to us that we will research future energies such as hydrogen. The availability of this element is practically unlimited and it is low in emissions”, says Wilfried Gepp, OMV.
 
The construction and operation of the Asten hydrogen filling station is part of the EU-subsidized project COHRS (Connecting Hydrogen Refuelling Stations), which OMV is realizing together with German partner H2 MOBILITY. A total of 20 stations should make the most important European corridors accessible for hydrogen refueling, three of them will be in Austria: Alongside Asten near Linz (Upper Austria), there will be Graz (Styria) and Wiener Neudorf (Lower Austria). COHRS is subsidized by the European Union through the financing instrument "Connecting Europe Facility" (CEF) and involves construction and operations, as well as research for technical solutions, customer acceptance and business models.
 
Hydrogen is an efficient and environmentally sound fuel for the future. As part of its sustainability strategy, OMV has operated Austria’s first public hydrogen filling station in Vienna since 2012 and last year opened a second station in Innsbruck (Tyrol). In Germany there are already two OMV hydrogen filling stations in Baden-Württemberg and a further three OMV hydrogen filling stations will start operating in Bavaria this year. The construction of additional stations is planned in the next few years. OMV is a managing partner of H2 MOBILITY, whose goal is to open around 400 hydrogen filling stations in Germany by the end of 2023.
 
OMV also supports electromobility as an additional sustainable driving option. In cooperation with SMATRICS, the complete provider for all services related to electromobility, OMV opened a high-speed charging station at the OMV filling station in Asten in May.
SMATRICS is the first provider to offer a complete, high-performance charging network throughout the whole of Austria and operates charging stations within a radius of around 60 km, which is 100% powered by renewable energy. The SMATRICS charging network now has around 400 charging points throughout the whole of Austria. Ten of these are at OMV stations in Austria, with two more in Bavaria.
 
The OMV Asten site is easy to reach for drivers of sustainable vehicles from the local area as well as those in transit.
 
 
Background information: 
 
OMV Aktiengesellschaft
With Group sales of EUR 23 bn and a workforce of around 24,100 employees in 2015, OMV Aktiengesellschaft is one of Austria’s largest listed industrial companies. In Upstream, OMV focuses on three core regions – CEE (Romania, Austria), North Sea as well as Middle East and Africa – and selected development areas. 2015 daily production stood at approximately 303 kboe/d. In Downstream, OMV has an annual refining capacity of 17.8 mn tonnes and approximately 3,800 filling stations in 11 countries including Turkey as of end 2015. OMV operates a gas pipeline network in Austria and gas storage facilities in Austria and Germany. In 2015, gas sales volumes amounted to around 110 TWh.
 
Sustainability at OMV
The OMV sustainability strategy combines economic activity and responsible conduct, with the goal of creating long-term, sustainable win-win situations for society, the environment and OMV. The OMV sustainability strategy “ Resourcefulness” encompasses our responsibilities on the issues of Health, Safety, Security, Environment, Diversity, Business Ethics, Human Rights and Stakeholder Engagement and focuses on the three main areas of Eco-Efficiency, Eco-Innovation and Skills to Succeed. OMV is a signatory of the UN Global Compact and is committed to supporting the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) of the United Nations.