In an interview with BTA, Professor Blagoy Burdin from the Institute of Electrochemistry and Energy Systems with the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IEES-BAS), said that the hydrogen filling station and hydrogen car that are part of the Energy Systems Field Laboratory of Integrated 6, are the first in Bulgaria and the region.

The field laboratory is part of the infrastructure of the HITMOBIL Competence Center with IEES-BAS as the leading organization.

Field Laboratory 6 and the hydrogen filling station were unveiled in December 2023. Burdin explained that their purpose is to show society, businesses and all interested parties hydrogen technology. The Center of Excellence provides an expert opinion on the application of hydrogen in transport, which is of key importance in the energy sector.

Burdin explains that hydrogen is advantageous in that it provides balance in energy production, as energy can be stored as hydrogen and then used to fill a car whenever the user decides.

The cost of a hydrogen car is no different from that of a high-end battery electric vehicle currently, but in the coming years it will become lower, the expert believes.

Among the advantages of a hydrogen vehicle is that it only takes 4 to 5 minutes to fill up and can then travel over 500 kilometers.

Another advantage is that there are no exhaust fumes, just water, Burdin noted.

According to him, if enough hydrogen filling stations are built, hydrogen vehicles will overtake electric ones.

It is the problem with the infrastructure that prevents the widespread use of hydrogen vehicles, he told BTA. While electric cars can be filled at home, hydrogen cars need a hydrogen station, which is a station that compresses the hydrogen to the required pressure bars.

According to Burdin, hydrogen vehicles should be widely used by 2031. By then, an EU regulation requires member states to have built the necessary infrastructure of hydrogen filling stations along Europe's road network. Once this infrastructure is built, the development of hydrogen vehicles will become much easier and faster.

Bulgaria is still at a very early stage of building such an infrastructure, Burdin commented.

However, a roadmap for hydrogen has been adopted that sets a direction for its development. One of the main tasks of the HITMOBIL Center of Excellence is to support the process of building the hydrogen filling infrastructure in Bulgaria. /BTA