Norway, hydrogen filling station explodes: the distribution network is closed and vehicle sales are stopped

In our nation, the Fuel Cell vehicles, which are electric but powered by hydrogen, turn out to be virtually non-existent, whereas in other nations like Norway they already constitute an alternative to vehicles with "classic" batteries, also because of an appropriate hydrogen distribution network.

A few days ago, the news of the explosion of one of these Uno-X chain stations was precisely that of the town of Sandvika in Bærum, an event not the first of its kind but of such an important entity that it had closed the entire supply network of the country and the sales of Toyota and Hyundai hydrogen models beforehand.

Two individuals were wounded at the moment of the explosion, which was powerful enough to activate the vehicle airbags in the immediate area without effect, according to local police.

Jon André Løkke, CEO of Nel Hydrogen, the firm that manages the one-x filling stations, commented: "It's too early to speculate about the cause and what went wrong. Our top priority is the safe operation of the stations we provided. As a precaution, we are temporarily putting other stations in standby mode for more information."

Toyota Norway manager Espen Olsen said: At Uno-X station we still don't know exactly what happened, so we don't want to speculate. But we stopped selling until we learned what occurred, and for practical purposes, as it is not feasible to refill the fuel now. "The two companies also informed customers in possession of their hydrogen car substitute models to compensate for the present stop of the service stations until a subsequent date.