THE first public hydrogen filling station has opened in Berlin. A number of trial vehicles have been supplied by BMW to mark the opening of the new site.

Speaking at the opening, German Transport Minster, Dr Manfred Stople, said: ‘In this inauguration, we are pointing the way forward for sustainable mobility. This project makes it clear that hydrogen has a high potential as a replacement for oil and other fossil energy forms in many areas.’

Representing the BMW Group, Christoph Huss, director of science and transport policy, added: ‘The BMW Group has been driving forward the development of hydrogen vehicles for more than 20 years. With the opening of this hydrogen filling station in Berlin, all partners of the Clean Energy Partnership have come a significant step closer to fulfilling their vision of turning sustainable mobility into reality.’

At the opening ceremony, a BMW test car was filled with liquid hydrogen and presented to the government officials.

The manufacturer is also deploying a fleet of hydrogen-powered cars in Berlin.

A BMW spokesman said: ‘BMW AG will offer customers a production car with a hydrogen combustion engine during the production period of the current BMW 7-series.’ It will run on hydrogen and petrol.