OSLO, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Preliminary findings show that the explosion at a gas station in Norway last week started with a hydrogen leakage from the high pressure hydrogen storage unit, hydrogen company Nel announced in a press release on Monday.
The powerful blast in Sandvika, west of Oslo, on June 10 triggered the airbags in a passing car and two people inside suffered minor injuries.
"The preliminary Gexcon investigation shows that the incident started with a hydrogen leakage from the high-pressure storage unit and that a 'cloud' of hydrogen ignited. The investigations continue in order to identify the root cause of the leak as well as the source of the ignition," said the release, citing findings from safety consultancy Gexcon.
"We can now conclude that Nel's core technologies were not the source of the leakage. However, we are still searching for what ignited the hydrogen," said Jon Andre Lokke, CEO of Nel.
All the hydrogen stations in Norway were closed after the explosion, creating problems for drivers of hydrogen-powered cars.
In the last three years, 150 hydrogen cars have been registered in Norway.
Both Toyota Norway and Hyundai stopped selling hydrogen cars in Norway while waiting for more information about the cause of the explosion.
