Australia’s first hydrogen refuelling station for heavy vehicles has been opened in New South Wales.
The H2Station, by Coregas, will facilitate the introduction of zero emissions hydrogen fuel cell trucks to the Illawarra-Shoalhaven region and future industry partners using H2 heavy vehicles will be encouraged to access the H2Station, which can rapidly refuel up to ten vehicles daily.
While Australia’s renewable energy revolution is underway, the transport sector remains a largely untapped opportunity for emissions reductions. Unlike batteries for electric vehicles, Fuel Cell Electrical Vehicles (FCEV) powered by hydrogen deliver heavy vehicles a lighter, longer-distance solution combined with fast refuelling and high payload capability.
Construction of the $2 million H2Station has been assisted by a $500,000 New South Wales Government grant.
The H2Station is a low-cost commercial solution capitalising on existing infrastructure aimed to seed a future network of hydrogen fuelled transport.
Coregas Australia Executive General Manager, Alan Watkins, said that locating H2Station alongside Coregas’ existing hydrogen production plant and transport hub for bulk hydrogen in Port Kembla created operational and cost efficiencies.
“The H2Station will allow hydrogen trucks to access the majority of the Illawarra-Shoalhaven region and reach metropolitan Sydney,” Mr Watkins said.
Coregas said that transitioning its diesel truck fleet to FCEVs is a cornerstone of the company’s decarbonisation roadmap.
“Coregas’s diesel truck fleet travels more than six million kilometres every year,” Mr Watkins said.
“That’s equivalent to driving 150 times around the world, which contributes to 54 per cent of Coregas’s carbon emissions.”
Minister for Regional New South Wales, Tara Moriarty, said the State Government was proud to support this pioneering project to refuel Australia’s first hydrogen-powered heavy road vehicles.
“Heavy road transport is a major carbon-emitting sector and Port Kembla is leading the way towards a more diverse energy future following today’s opening of the Coregas H2Station,” Ms Moriarty said.
“This project is an important first step towards decarbonising the local transport industry that will also demonstrate the feasibility of using hydrogen-powered heavy vehicles more broadly in regional New South Wales.”
Working with project partner Haskel, the H2Station will compress hydrogen from the existing Coregas plant up to 500bar, enabling supply into the 350bar cylinders on board the FCEV. The hydrogen dispensing system has the capacity to discharge 400kg of fuel cell grade hydrogen.
Haskel Hydrogen Business Development Manager (APAC), Stewart Anderson, said, “The hydrogen system utilises our world-leading compression, storage and dispensing equipment specifically designed and optimised for Port Kembla.”
Featured image: A Coregas hydrogen fueled truck at the H2Station. Image credit: Coregas.
