European hydrogen refuelling market build up

As Europe prepares for ambitious revisions to its regulatory framework to support Green Deal targets, a flagship project to encourage hydrogen-based mobility recently released key findings and forecasts. Brian Davis reports.

The Hydrogen Mobility Europe (H2ME) programme has just completed its first phase, initiated in 2015. About 630 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles have been deployed in 10 countries, with 37 new hydrogen refuelling stations installed in eight countries. Though it is very early days, the European deployment shows promise and commercial potential for roll-out of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) and hydrogen refuelling stations (HRSs) for large and small fleets.

FCEVs produce zero tailpipe emissions – only water – with no CO2 , nitrogen oxide (NOx ), sulphur oxide (SOx ) or fine particulate matter; while offering fast refuelling, within 3–5 minutes, and a long driving range of 500+ km on a single charge. They are complementary to battery EVs (BEVs), and are particularly attractive for heavy vehicle applications that remain hard to decarbonise due to operational requirements. Furthermore, hydrogen can be stored easily (produced by water electrolysis or piped or trucked-in from reformulated natural gas) and has the flexibility to adapt to larger demand fluctuations on energy networks.

Although BEVs and plug-in hybrid EVs (PHEVs) have become the leading green mobility solutions in recent years, there remain challenges in terms of long range, continuous use and heavy-duty applications. Historically, single power train internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles have dominated, but progress in BEV, PHEV and FCEV development can benefit each other due to many shared components and development options.

The €160mn H2ME programme is co-funded by the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH-JU), and involves nearly 50 organisations. Partners include project lead Element Energy, alongside Air Liquide, Audi, BOC, BMW, Daimler, Hyundai, Linde, Michelin, Nissan, OMV, Symbio, Renault, Toyota, ITM Power, Engie Solutions and others. It will create the basis for a pan-European network and will contribute to building the world’s largest network of hydrogen refuelling stations.

Following the conclusion of its initial phase, H2ME recommends provision of regional, national and international incentives to ensure that the dispensed cost of low carbon hydrogen is competitive for vehicle operators, to create a level playing field with other zero emission vehicles. Phase two is scheduled to end in 2022, involving over 1,400 vehicles and more than 45 HRSs.

Incentives such as purchase grants and tax exemptions are anticipated to unlock demand from vehicle operators and spur market confidence to vehicle suppliers. In addition, there is a proposal to give financial support per unit (kg) of hydrogen supplied, on similar lines to the feed-in tariffs which stimulated early renewable energy uptake, to lower the price of green hydrogen (produced using renewable energy) at the pump. Thus strengthening the business case for FCEVs.

The second phase of the programme will focus on developing state-of-the-art refuelling stations, with increased options for producing green hydrogen, and targeting a wider range of vehicles, from light duty to heavy duty vehicles. This reflects lessons from phase one that indicate future hydrogen mobility strategies should focus on long range and heavy-duty applications, with short refuelling time, in the transition to zero emissions.

The overall cost of operating FCEVs in these fleets is expected to decrease rapidly in coming years. For example, analysis of the FCH JU-funded ZEFER project which is deploying 180 FCEVs in Paris, London and Brussels (until 2022), demonstrates that operation costs are expected to decline rapidly, with FCEVs reaching parity on a total cost of ownership basis with petrol/ diesel hybrids within five years.

Market ramp up

Creation of an extensive hydrogen refuelling network is essential to market development of FCEVs. Currently, there are a limited number of HRSs, although networks are growing. One advantage is that hydrogen can be produced off-site or on-site and provide grid-balancing services, to help match energy supply to demand. Off-site production is delivered by tanker or pipeline, in the same way that petrol is delivered to service stations – allowing large-scale production at low costs. Currently, the majority of hydrogen comes from reformulated natural gas. But low carbon sources (ie from water electrolysis) or certificates for green hydrogen can be used to increase the proportion of green hydrogen at the stations. On-site production generates hydrogen by electrolysis, ideally with the aid of renewable electricity.

FCEVs and HRSs are only in the early stages of market ramp-up. But a mature, self-sustaining market is expected to be reached in the 2030s, with anticipated sales of tens of thousands of vehicles annually and a growing HRS network across Europe. The Hydrogen Council anticipates that by 2030, one in 12 cars sold in California, Germany, Japan and South Korea could be powered by hydrogen.

Current fuel cell vehicles include Hyundai’s ix35 Tucson, Clarity and the Nexo; Toyota’s Mirai FCV; Mercedes-Benz’ fuel cell GLC; and Renault’s Kangoo ZE Hydrogen van; with new FCEV models planned for launch by Audi, BMW, Jaguar and PSA. In 2019, over 2,000 hydrogen vehicles were deployed – 750 cars in Germany, 180 in France, 200 in the UK, 300 in Scandinavia, 300 in Benelux (Belgium/Netherlands/ Luxemburg); 260+ vans, over 80+ buses, 12 trucks and two trains and over 100 HRSs in Europe (Source: H2ME).

The number of FCEVs in Europe is still limited, which discourages early investors. Limited infrastructure remains a key barrier to uptake of FCEVs and development of a supply chain. FCEVs are still far more expensive than conventional cars, but costs are expected to improve during the 2020s, offering a cost-competitive alternative, in particular for long-range vehicles for zero emission driving, through economies of scale. Development of a large market will encourage expansion of the HRS network.

Although the hydrogen storage capacity of FCEVs has increased to 700 bar and safety concerns have been addressed, along with cold start down to –25 o C and durability improvements, there is room for further improvement in design (ie component count, reduced stack size) and reduction in material usage in vehicle production, as well as a need to increase the number of FCEV models, leading to reduction in vehicle costs.

Refuelling infrastructure deployment

Different HRS network development strategies are being tested across Europe, which vary from region to region. Germany has extensive national coverage, including major cities, and is focused on establishing a national network to maximise appeal to mass market customers. The country has deployed 100 HRSs, with further expansion in line to provide a national network and encourage OEM vehicle introduction. Under the H2ME initiative, Air Liquide operates 11 sites in Germany, all HRSs are integrated into service stations operated by Shell, Total or OMV.

Linde operates nine sites, integrated into forecourts operated by Shell and Total. By 2027, up to 400 HRSs will be operational in Germany, all will be 700 bar and SAE J2600 compliant.

In the UK, initially there is an aim to establish local hydrogen hubs networks, with six 350/700 bar, and accelerated ramp-up between now and 2025. BOC (Linde) operates one HRS in Aberdeen. ITM has sites at Beaconsfield and Gatwick, Swindon, Birmingham and London, operated by Shell. Each has an on-site water electrolyser fed by 100% renewable electricity. The UK government provides grants for both HRS installation and purchase/lease of FCEVs for fleets. France’s strategy is based on captive fleet applications, to secure and de-risk early HRS investments. It is focused on local/regional HRS clusters. Most sites are 350 bar, with only limited dual-pressure (700 and 350 bar). Air Liquide operates five 350 bar sites supplied with low carbon hydrogen trucked-in. AREVAH2Gen/EIFER, AREVAH2Gen/ SEMITAN/EIFER and McPhy/EIFER/ CASC each operate a single site with on-site water electrolysis. Other sites are run by McPhy/GNVERT, GNVERT/ITM, Hyset Co and R-GDS/ R-Hynoca. Over 100 hydrogen-based taxis are on Paris roads. But HRS utilisation has been lower than anticipated outside Paris to date. Demand is expected to increase with increased deployment of passenger cars or a change in user driving patterns. France’s €100mn National Hydrogen Plan (2018) led to the development of numerous regional hydrogen mobility initiatives.

Facilitated by generous national tax regimes, a network of stations is being developed across the Nordic region. The first plausible network coverage has been achieved in Denmark, with the rest of Scandinavia and Iceland looking to follow. As of November 2019, there were 300 FCEVs and 20 public HRSs deployed – six in Norway, eight in Denmark, three in Sweden and three in Iceland.

Strategies within Benelux are still in development. The H2Benelux project aims to enable national travel across Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Further plans are likely to involve expansion based on a cluster approach. In Benelux, deployment is in three stages, with market preparation underway, progressive introduction to 2025 and full market introduction anticipated by 2030. Currently, there is only one HRS in the Netherlands, run by Kerkhof (Resato) using trucked-in hydrogen from centralised electrolysers. The H2Benelux project aims to roll out four HRSs in the Netherlands, three in Belgium and one in Luxembourg. The HRSs will be located on existing TEN-T corridors, enabling the HRS network to connect networks in Germany, France and the UK.

Hydrogen Europe’s Technology Roadmap has set a target of 1,000 public HRSs across Europe by 2025. As of July 2020, over 130 were operational, mostly in Germany, France, the UK and Denmark. A further 44 stations are planned or under construction. While this represents the start of a pan- European refuelling network, many of the existing stations currently only have the capacity to refuel relatively small numbers of light duty vehicles (ie cars and vans). Only a few stations have the capacity to serve fleets of taxis, buses or other high-demand vehicles.

H2ME notes that significant further investment is required to provide a sufficient network of refuelling stations to meet the potential needs of the hydrogen refuelling market. Especially when considering the adoption of heavy-duty hydrogen vehicles, such as trucks.

Roll-out of public infrastructure and vehicles has been slower than was planned. Hydrogen Mobility Europe admits that initial plans (in 2015) were over-ambitious. There was strong competition for FCEVs in global markets outside Europe, combined with challenges in identifying and securing refuelling sites in urban centres.

In the absence of high volumes of FCEV passenger cars in Europe, hydrogen mobility initiatives are increasingly converging on the business case for taxis and heavy vehicles. Clusters of stations are developing in key locations where FCEVs are attractive to fleet operators; for buses and refuse trucks and high demand applications, like taxis, along with development of infrastructure supply chains in advance of mass passenger car roll-out. In addition, interesting national and regional initiatives are emerging from the private sector.

With reduced costs, European HRS networks look set to expand in the 2030s on the road to net zero.