The Bulgarian government has unveiled plan to construct ten hydrogen vehicle filling stations by 2025 as part of a national program for the development of alternative fuel markets.
The plan has been announced by Bulgarian Transport, Information Technology and Communications deputy minister Anguel Popov at the presentation of hydrogen automobile technologies at the National Palace of Culture.
The ministry is exploring potential locations for installation of hydrogen filling stations while the first station is most likely planned to be installed in the city of Bourgas, on the Black Sea coast.
Bulgaria currently has no hydrogen filling stations on its territory.
Angel Popov said that modification works for the first Bulgarian passenger ship to be powered by a hydrogen engine are in progress.
Popov further said that the demonstration of two hydrogen-powered vehicles shows the efficiency of the eco-friendly technology, which is said to be the future of transport worldwide.
Fuel cells, which can be powered by hydrogen, are claimed to be reliable and flexible. They can be used in different applications ranging from cars, motorcycles, ships, buses, homes to steel production.
Hydrogen is produced from 100% renewable sources, such as wind or solar energy. Excess renewable energy can be stored in the form of hydrogen.
The presentation by Anguel Popov is a part of the Hydrogen Summit, which is scheduled to take place on 28 May 2018 and will be organized by Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU).
FCH JU is a European public-private partnership which aims to accelerate the market entry of fuel cell and hydrogen technologies.
The presentations will be organized with support of the Bulgarian Academy of Science, Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, Ministry of Education and Science, Sofia Municipality, Hydrogen Europe Association, and the Member of European Parliament (MEP) Peter Kouroumbashev.