China's first heavy-load railway hydrogen refueling station starts commercial operation

China's first heavy-load railway hydrogen refueling research and demonstration station was put into business Sunday in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Located in Ordos, a prefecture-level city of Inner Mongolia, the Batuta hydrogen station under China's energy giant CHN Energy Investment Group (CHN Energy) mainly provides services for domestic heavy-duty hydrogen-powered shunting locomotives and zero-emission catenary working vehicles supported by hydrogen fuel cell and lithium-ion power battery.

The station is equipped with the world's first low-temperature-resistant automatic refueling and hydrogenation robot and high-flow hydrogenation machine independently developed and manufactured by China, which can achieve all-weather continuous operation and large-flow automatic hydrogenation at temperatures as low as minus 25 degrees Celsius.

With a refueling capacity of 500 kilograms per day and a hydrogen storage capacity of 800 kilograms, the station can fill up a hydrogen-powered locomotive in as short as as 30 minutes.

The hydrogen fuel can help the locomotive run continuously for eight hours, with an unloaded range of 800 kilometers. It is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 800 tons per year.

China's first heavy-load railway hydrogen refueling station starts commercial operation

Heavy snow has swept across areas along the Sea of Japan coast, with some regions expected to see snow depths surpassing 80 centimeters.

In Uonuma City of Niigata Prefecture, which is about four-hour drive from Japan's capital city Tokyo, snow depths have reached 20 centimeters on vehicles and rooftops on Thursday. In some areas that have yet to be cleared, the snow has piled up to the height of a single-story building, with snow depths 1.5 times that of this time in previous years.

The local weather agency said that by Friday morning, the estimated 24-hour snowfall is expected to be up to 80 centimeters in some parts of Niigata Prefecture.

In addition to Niigata Prefecture, the snow brought by the cold wave has affected a vast area, stretching from Japan's northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido to the Shikoku region in western Japan.

Due to the heavy snow, rail transportation in some areas has been delayed or even canceled. Latest information shows that certain sections of highways in Niigata and Fukushima prefectures are closed all day Thursday.

Japan's weather agency said the heavy snow will continue till Friday in areas along the Sea of Japan coast.

Heavy snow hits regions along Sea of Japan coast