Aberdeen City Council leader Jenny Laing was joined by BOC's director of Bulk and Packaged Gases Nathan Palmer and Transport Scotland chief executive David Middleton to open the station, which is now set to fuel Europe's largest hydrogen bus fleet.
The Aberdeen Hydrogen Bus Project – which has backing from Europe, the UK government and the Scottish government, as well as private partners and is sited at Aberdeen City Council's Kittybrewster depot – is the most high-profile of a range of projects designed to create a hydrogen economy in the city.
Apart from fuelling hydrogen buses, the new facility has also been designed to act as a purpose-built hydrogen fuel cell vehicle maintenance facility.
The refuelling station is owned and operated by BOC, and has been delivered as part of the Aberdeen city council-led project, which is testing the economic and environmental benefits of hydrogen transport technologies.
It will fuel 10 Van Hool hydrogen fuel cell buses – six of which will be operated by Stagecoach, while First operates four. The buses will only emit water vapour, reducing carbon emissions and air pollution, as well as being quieter and smoother to run than diesel vehicles.
"We not only have Europe's largest fleet of hydrogen fuel cell buses running on the streets of Aberdeen, but we also have the UK's first and largest hydrogen production and bus refuelling station," said City council leader councillor Jenny Laing.
And she added that the council also has plans for further hydrogen capable of fuelling other vehicles, including cars.
"We have a very clear hydrogen strategy for the future and are on the cusp of realising our aspiration of becoming a world-leading city for low carbon technology, while maintaining our position as a leading world energy city," she said.
"BOC is extremely proud to be part of the Aberdeen Hydrogen Bus Project, a ground-breaking demonstration of low carbon public transport in which Aberdeen is setting the standards, not just for Scotland, but also for Europe," commented Nathan Palmer for BOC.
"BOC is now ready for its next project on the hydrogen highway. We want to work with other committed partners delivering a step-change in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK."
Transport Minister Derek Mackay commented: "The Scottish Government is supporting the introduction of cleaner and greener transport options across Scotland. Aberdeen's new fleet of zero emission hydrogen buses is one of the most exciting of these."
And Stewart Reid, head of Future Networks at Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution, added: "Innovation is driving the move to a low carbon economy and it's great to see a project develop from an idea through to delivery.
"New technologies, like Aberdeen's hydrogen fuelled buses, will play a crucial role in balancing the country's future energy needs, while helping to keep the costs of energy down."
Van Hool N.V. CEO Filip Van Hool said: "As the coordinator of the High VLOCity fuel cell bus project, a partner in HyTransit and the supplier of the fuel cell buses, Van Hool is very proud to be an intrinsic part of the Aberdeen Hydrogen Bus Project, the largest fuel cell bus deployment in all of Europe."
Steve Walker, managing director of Stagecoach North Scotland, said: "The launch of this project is great news for our customers... We are committed to reducing the impact of our operations on the environment through a number of measures, including alternative fuels, energy efficiency, increased recycling and reduced water consumption."
First Aberdeen managing director David Phillips said: "The hydrogen buses complement our £4.3 million investment last year in 26 micro-hybrid vehicles, one of the world's most fuel-efficient buses.
"Investment in environmentally friendly, state-of-the-art vehicles is key to our strategy, with the hydrogen buses very much our flagships."