Hydrogen refueling stations technology trade-offs and deployment constraints in archipelagic settings

Hydrogen refueling stations (HRS) are a key enabler for fuel cell vehicle deployment, but their feasibility is constrained by coupled trade-offs among throughput, energy use, safety, and supply-chain emissions. This review critically synthesizes recent advances in HRS architectures and core subsystems (compression, storage cascades, dispensing, and pre-cooling), with emphasis on the technical causes behind two persistent bottlenecks: carbon footprint and refueling speed. The analysis shows that gas type hydrogen (GH2) stations are primarily constrained by station electricity demand for high-pressure compression and pre-cooling during fast filling, whereas liquid type hydrogen (LH2) pathways shift the dominant burden upstream to liquefaction energy and downstream to boil-off and cryogenic operability. We further discuss how geography and demand density shape viable supply options (tube-trailer, pipeline, and LH2 delivery) and summarize implications for Indonesia, where hot ambient conditions and archipelagic logistics amplify both peak-load and delivery-chain penalties. The findings support pathway selection as a constrained optimization problem rather than a technology preference.