SunHydro wants to put some hydrogen in your tank.  The company is taking the first step toward creating the world’s first chain of privately funded hydrogen fueling stations by getting the go-ahead for its first fueling station in Wallingford, CT.   SunHydro’s plan is to build an East Coast hydrogen corridor from Maine to Miami – providing sustenance for future zero emissions, hydrogen fueled vehicles.

The company intends to create the hydrogen equivalent to branded “Mobil,” “Shell,” or “Hess” fuel stations.  SunHydro’s goal is to create a viable hydrogen fueling infrastructure for hydrogen-powered vehicles in a “if you build it they will come” business scenario.  The SunHydro model is designed to put the fueling station literally “in a box.”  The on-site hydrogen generator is a self-contained, solar-powered unit housed in a specialized shipping container – a new and innovative technology that should decrease infrastructure costs for the alternative fuel start-up. 

SunHydro just received the go-ahead to install Connecticut’s first fueling station at the headquarters of its sister company, Proton Energy Systems, in Wallingford.  Proton Energy will be supplying the on-site generator equipment.  Braintree Massachusetts is the next stop.  Eventually, SunHydro plans to build a network of stations up and down the East Coast – making owning and driving a hydrogen-fueled car a practical possibility. Plans for future expansion include a foray into the West Coast market.

Tom Sullivan, a New England entrepreneur who took Lumber Liquidators from a Boston parking lot to 140 stores in 43 states, acquired Connecticut-based Proton Energy Systems two years ago and then founded SunHydro, to build fueling stations.

Now if affordable hydrogen powered vehicles were to become a reality…