Nine kronor per hectare costs hydrogen.
A full tank is loose for just over SEK 500 and on it a fuel cell car can be driven up to 700 km.
At present, 8 of the municipality's more than 150 cars are of the right type - in practice electric cars where the batteries have been replaced by a hydrogen tank and a fuel cell (see fact box).
Jonas Johansson, development manager Mariestad municipality.
Photo: Philip Ramqvist / SVT
- Hydrogen is the future, all that is needed is water and sun.
So far, it is not profitable, but when the municipality has reached 30-50 fuel cell cars, we expect to save money.
They are cheaper to drive than the fossil-powered cars that we are gradually replacing, says Jonas Johansson, development manager at Mariestad municipality.
Home service first out
He is one of the driving forces behind the "gas station", where ordinary tap water is converted into hydrogen with the help of energy from the solar cells right next door.
Already today, the home care service refuels some of its cars with municipally manufactured fuel before driving them out to the users in the Västgötland countryside.
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- It's like driving a normal car.
The disadvantage would be if there is something at the gas station, then you will be standing, says Sandra Snejder at the home care service Mariestad Photo: Philip Ramqvist / SVT
Completely self-sufficient
What makes the filling station in Mariestad world-unique is that it is "off grid" - disconnected from the electricity grid and self-sufficient in energy.
The person who made sure that everything works is the electrical engineer and hydrogen enthusiast Hans-Olof Nilsson.
Here on the fence in Haggården, he has assembled a system of solar cells, an electrolyser that splits the water, a compressor and long rows of tubes where the hydrogen gas is stored under high pressure.
- Microphones like these can be set up exactly where you want to both produce and store your own energy.
The sun is the fuel and you borrow some water which is then returned.
What could be better than that?
Hans-Olof Nilsson is the one who designed the filling station in Mariestad.
Here he shows the electrolyser, in which water is divided into hydrogen and oxygen with the help of solar energy.
Photo: Philip Ramqvist / SVT
The various parts of the filling station have been placed in containers so that they can be quickly moved and built up in another location.
As it looks today, the construction breathes a little "Inventor-Jocke", but it has not been free.
Contributions from the EU, among others, have meant that Mariestad's taxpayers have escaped most of the bill totaling SEK 30 million.
Attract green entrepreneurs
In addition to providing the municipality's vehicles with environmentally friendly fuel, the hope is that the new technology will put Mariestad on the map and give a boost to the local business community.
The initiative that will attract green entrepreneurs to establish itself goes by the name ElectriVillage and includes more ambitious projects.
Among other things, the construction of an "off-grid preschool", where all energy will come from the sun, among other things stored in the form of hydrogen.
And the municipality has received attention.
At least abroad, where the hydrogen plans have reached significantly further than they have done in Sweden.
The municipal chairman of the municipal board, Johan Abrahamsson, visited the town of Warrnambool in Australia this spring, who invited him there to talk about the investments in Mariestad.
- Just talking and showing pictures in powerpoint does not go far.
Something concrete is needed to show people that they are serious, says Mariestad's municipal chairman Johan Abrahamsson (M) about the municipality's hydrogen investment.
Photo: Philip Ramqvist / SVT
But that giants like Toyota or Mercedes will move their fuel cell research here to the eastern shore of Lake Vänern is not something he dares to hope for;
- You have to be realistic, but already if twenty local companies would increase the number of employees thanks to the investment in green, smart technologies, we have made a profit.
Then you never know what's going on.
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Municipal councilor Johan Abrahamsson (M) believes that the filling station will lead to new jobs in Mariestad.
Photo: Philip Ramqvist / SVT