OREANDA-NEWS. Toyota Tsusho Corporation and Air Liquide Japan Ltd. will establish a joint venture "Toyota Tsusho Air Liquid Hydrogen Energy Corporation" to build Japan's first commercial network of hydrogen stations for fuel cell vehicles.

Jun Karube, Toyota Tsusho's President & CEO, and Etienne Lepoutre, the president of Air Liquide Japan, signed an agreement in Nagoya on October 8th to establish a joint venture to build and operate the network. Toyota Tsusho will own 51% of the joint venture, and Air Liquide Japan will hold a 49% stake. The as yet new joint venture will open its first two hydrogen stations in end of 2014 in Nagoya and in nearby Toyota City. Japanese automakers have announced plans to begin marketing fuel cell vehicles in 2015, and Toyota Tsusho and Air Liquide Japan are seeking a head start in building infrastructure to serve those vehicles.

Air Liquide Group, the parent company of Air Liquide Japan, masters the entire hydrogen supply chain from production and storage to distribution. Based on this expertise, it has demonstrated leadership in public / private projects concerning hydrogen energy and fuel cell vehicles, and has already developed more than 60 hydrogen refueling stations for fuel cell vehicles worldwide.

Toyota Tsusho aims to contribute to the development of the Japanese fuel cell vehicles infrastructure by accumulating results and know-how through the operation of the two hydrogen stations.