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Air Products announces European hydrogen refueling station network

Additionally, the company is testing a Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Truck in logistic operations.

This is what a hydrogen refueling station by Air Products could look like as part of the announced European refueling network. (Graphic: Air Products)
This is what a hydrogen refueling station by Air Products could look like as part of the announced European refueling network. (Graphic: Air Products)
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Air Products has unveiled plans to establish a network of permanent high-capacity hydrogen refueling stations (HRS - Hydrogen Refuelling Station) that will be strategically located along key transport corridors near the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T). Air Products' refueling stations will feature enhanced refueling technology, multiple pressure levels for refueling, and on-site liquid hydrogen storage to enable liquid refueling.

Liquid Hydrogen on an Industrial Scale in Europe

The hydrogen refueling stations are supplied with renewable hydrogen from Air Products’ global hydrogen supply chain, providing an energy supply for heavy-duty transportation. This also includes a second hydrogen liquefaction plant that the company is building in Rotterdam, which – once operational – will double the total capacity of liquid hydrogen in Europe.

According to Air Products, they are already making progress. For a number of existing and planned refueling stations, the European Commission has granted subsidies under its Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) funding program. These include:

  • HRS in Rotterdam (Netherlands) and Hürth (Germany), with the station in Rotterdam currently in the commissioning phase
  • HRS on the Volvo Group site in the port of Ghent (Belgium)
  • Europe’s first large-scale HRS with liquid hydrogen in the port of Zeebrugge (Belgium)

Besides CEF funding, the company has also received funds from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia to build two high-capacity public hydrogen refueling stations in Meckenheim and Duisburg.

Hydrogen-powered Trucks with Daimler Trucks

In collaboration with Daimler Truck, the latest mobile liquid hydrogen fueling station by Air Products in Duisburg is being used in a pilot project for hydrogen-powered trucks. As part of customer-centric testing, five Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Trucks can be refueled at the station, allowing the station to operate under real-world conditions.

Aligned with Air Products' commitment to transitioning its fleet to hydrogen-powered vehicles, a GenH2 truck is also being tested in the project. The vehicle is used within Air Products' existing fleet for the transport of bottled gases, enabling the company to gain experience in industrial gas transportation.

The Mercedes-Benz GenH2 trucks are fueled with liquid hydrogen, enabling a range of over 1,000 km. In this state, the energy carrier has significantly higher energy density, allowing more hydrogen to be carried, which greatly increases the range and enables comparable vehicle performance to that of a conventional diesel truck. Liquid hydrogen allows for optimized transport routes. Additionally, liquid hydrogen tanks offer cost and weight advantages over compressed gaseous hydrogen, thus enabling a higher payload.

Seifi Ghasemi, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Air Products: "With thousands of trucks delivering industrial gases to our customers daily, logistics is an essential part of our business. Testing a Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Truck under real-world conditions is a crucial step in our efforts to transition our fleet to hydrogen-powered vehicles."

Hydrogen Fueling Station Network in North America

The announcement of a European hydrogen fueling station network follows the recently announced plans by Air Products to establish a network of permanent, high-capacity, multimodal hydrogen fueling stations. This network extends from Northern to Southern California in the USA and between Edmonton and Calgary in Alberta, Canada.

As the world's largest supplier of hydrogen, Air Products has practical operational experience with over 250 hydrogen fueling station projects in 20 countries. The company's technologies are used in over 1.5 million fueling operations annually.

Translated automatically from German.
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