Tokyo Gas opens new hydrogen station ahead of Olympics in clean energy drive

TOKYO (Reuters) - Tokyo Gas Co Ltd <9531.T> opened on Thursday its fourth and largest hydrogen refuelling station, capable of refuelling 20 fuel-cell (FC) buses daily, as part of a drive to showcase the nation's clean energy technology at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

"Many people from all over the world will come to Tokyo for Olympics and Paralympics and it will be a great opportunity to showcase Japan's advanced technology, especially in hydrogen," Takashi Anamizu, executive vice president of Tokyo Gas, said.

"The past three stations have been fuelling only 4-5 fuel- cell vehicles (FCVs) a day, which was lower than we had anticipated," Anamizu told reporters on the sidelines of the opening ceremony at the Toyosu Hydrogen Station.

The "city gas" processed at the station will be carbon neutral, as the supplier of the liquefied natural gas, Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L>, has used carbon dioxide credits to offset emissions generated during exploration and production.

Tokyo Gas expects more traffic at Toyosu, close to many Olympics sites, and the local government plans to raise the number of fuel cell buses to 100 this year from 17 now, Anamizu said.

While Tokyo Gas is Japan's biggest seller of city gas, other companies have opened many more hydrogen stations, with more than 100 in operation nationwide.

Japan aims to boost the number of hydrogen stations to 160 in 2020 and 320 in 2025.

(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)