Grant funding of £3.5 million (US$5.3 million) will be provided through the scheme to develop up to seven new, fully functional, hydrogen refueling stations, with a further £2 million (US$3 million) being made available to upgrade up to eight existing demonstration stations.

Ricardo-AEA will oversee the submission of infrastructure proposals through its online application portal, before technically reviewing the applications and making a formal recommendation to OLEV. Technical experts within Ricardo-AEA and E4tech will judge applications on how well they meet a range of criteria, including the role they will play in an early hydrogen network.

Once successful infrastructure candidates have been chosen, Ricardo-AEA will work with government to deliver the grant payments and monitor and report on the installation of new hydrogen refuelling stations.

The competition opened today and potential applicants are being invited to register their interest via the online application portal on Ricardo-AEA’s website: http://www.ricardo-aea.com/cms/hydrogen-refuelling-station-grants. Upon registration, candidates will receive a competition guidance document and the scheme’s application form.

In 2014 the consultancy was awarded the contract to manage the Department for Transport’s £25-million (US$37.6-million) biofuels competition, which will establish three advanced biofuel plants in the UK.

Registration for the new hydrogen refueling competition closes on 6 March 2015.