The need for co-evolving hydrogen infrastructure
The hydrogen industry faces an important choice: coordinated co-evolution or patched-together piecemeal development. Dr Lee Juby, CEO of Fuel Cell Systems and a member of the executive team of the Hydrogen Energy Association (HEA), explains how and why integrated co-evolution is the way forward, drawing on hydrogen freight corridors as a working example.
The UK is on a path to net zero by 2050. Decarbonising road transport is central to success. HGVs account for 16% of road transport greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, so to meet this goal, the UK’s HGVs must undergo a substantial transformation.
Hydrogen is the energy source primed to fuel that transformation. Though there has been unprecedented success in decarbonising car travel with electric vehicles (EVs), batteries pose a problem for vehicles that need to carry larger payloads over longer distances. In short, they are too heavy and lack the range that larger vehicles need. Hydrogen, however, is energy-dense by weight, meaning it can provide a greater range while preserving payloads, making it well-suited for HGV applications.
The UK’s HGV decarbonisation mandate requires the end of sales of all new, non-zero-emission HGVs under 26 tonnes by 2035 and by 2040 for over 26 tonnes. So far, progress is modest, yet respectable and well-intentioned. According to the Road Haulage Association’s net-zero survey, 14% of fleets with between 25 and 99 vehicles and 22% of fleets with 100 or more vehicles plan to introduce hydrogen HGVs over the next five years.
However, the lack of coordination could inhibit the UK’s ability to decarbonise and stifle growth for a nascent yet transformative application and industry. Success depends on vehicles and infrastructure being planned in a coordinated way, joined-up thinking throughout the value chain, and a push against a piecemeal approach to development.
The pitfalls of the piecemeal approach
A piecemeal approach creates challenges and risks. Without coordinated infrastructure and vehicle rollout, both freight and infrastructure operators will face a familiar chicken-and-egg problem. Fleet managers find it hard to justify adopting hydrogen HGVs without the refuelling stations, while investors fail to see the potential in refuelling stations without fleets to use them.
Getting refuelling infrastructure wrong, or planning it too late, can leave vehicles temporarily unusable. There have been notable cases of hydrogen fleets, such as buses, being mothballed because refuelling stations or hydrogen fuel became unavailable. This leaves fleet managers with an inoperable fleet, jeopardising the business case for more hydrogen adoption because those vehicles are no longer generating revenue.
The major fallout from a piecemeal approach is a lack of market confidence. And this is something the UK can’t risk, especially in the early stages of hydrogen freight growth. The Hydrogen Energy Association (HEA), in partnership with the Road Haulage Association and the Construction Plant-hire Association, has highlighted the infrastructure gap between the UK and Europe. It has called for a national roadmap for hydrogen fuel and refuelling infrastructure to provide market certainty and attract private investment. As an executive of the HEA, I believe a piecemeal approach to development would undermine these efforts and run counter to any successful roadmap.
Ultimately, none of these issues are technological. They are simply planning ‘failures’ that we can avoid through co-evolution.
Calling for coordination
Co-evolving hydrogen infrastructure entails advancing the entire value chain in a coordinated manner. This form of end-to-end coordination includes hydrogen production, distribution, the right refuelling infrastructure, and the right vehicles. It requires overcoming silos, fostering close collaboration among stakeholders, and planning and coordinating technical requirements and standards. But if done effectively, it can avoid the pitfalls mentioned above, providing the reliability and security that all stakeholders need.
Hydrogen freight corridors are a prime example of what happens when you co-evolve hydrogen infrastructure. The government-backed HyHaul project – part of the Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrator programme – is an upcoming example of this approach. The project involves up to 30 fuel-cell HGVs and three sites along the M4, with refuelling stations providing on-site hydrogen storage, high-capacity compression for 700 and 350 bar, and dispensing technology suitable for high-throughput HGV operations. Electrolysers produce the hydrogen at a site in South Wales, and tankers distribute it to the refuelling stations. The HGV operators have been identified, and the whole value chain – from end to end – is being moved forward together.
Hydrogen freight corridors give fleet and infrastructure operators confidence. Freight has fixed trunking routes, so refuelling infrastructure can be strategically placed along them to give all stakeholders certainty. Corridors are an example of joined-up thinking: they create sufficient demand density to justify infrastructure investment, with many logistics companies using these routes and refuelling stations. They also create sufficient infrastructure coverage to justify investment in hydrogen HGVs for fleet managers.
The refuelling stations have a dual purpose. Though primarily for HGVs, they can be used by other fleets and even the public. Smaller vehicle fleets can use the refuelling infrastructure to support their own decarbonisation efforts. This could be as an alternative to having their own dedicated depot refuelling, or simply as a form of public refuelling within their service area. With the right stakeholder engagement, these ‘secondary customers’ can be planned into a project from the start.
The result for infrastructure operators is a more robust business model that reduces the dependence on any one type of customer and maximises utilisation rates. This makes individual projects more viable and supports overall market confidence. For hydrogen producers, it ensures a steady, reliable off-take agreement that mitigates risks while helping maintain a reliable supply that prevents fleets from being taken off road temporarily.
The right path at a critical point
Hydrogen for freight is at a critical juncture. The technology is proven, the environmental and legislative imperative is clear, and government support is starting to come through with projects like HyHaul. And while projects like this demonstrate what’s possible when government backing enables end-to-end coordination across the hydrogen value chain, ongoing support is needed to replicate this model across the UK. With such support available, I am confident in its success.
In short, hydrogen freight corridors bypass the chicken-egg problem, drive broader hydrogen fleet adoption, minimise asset risks, and bolster market confidence throughout and beyond the hydrogen sector.
The hydrogen industry faces an important choice: coordinated co-evolution or patched-together piecemeal development. Dr Lee Juby, CEO of Fuel Cell Systems and a member of the executive team of the Hydrogen Energy Association (HEA), explains how and why integrated co-evolution is the way forward, drawing on hydrogen freight corridors as a working example.
The UK is on a path to net zero by 2050. Decarbonising road transport is central to success. HGVs account for 16% of road transport greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, so to meet this goal, the UK’s HGVs must undergo a substantial transformation.
Hydrogen is the energy source primed to fuel that transformation. Though there has been unprecedented success in decarbonising car travel with electric vehicles (EVs), batteries pose a problem for vehicles that need to carry larger payloads over longer distances. In short, they are too heavy and lack the range that larger vehicles need. Hydrogen, however, is energy-dense by weight, meaning it can provide a greater range while preserving payloads, making it well-suited for HGV applications.
The UK’s HGV decarbonisation mandate requires the end of sales of all new, non-zero-emission HGVs under 26 tonnes by 2035 and by 2040 for over 26 tonnes. So far, progress is modest, yet respectable and well-intentioned. According to the Road Haulage Association’s net-zero survey, 14% of fleets with between 25 and 99 vehicles and 22% of fleets with 100 or more vehicles plan to introduce hydrogen HGVs over the next five years.
However, the lack of coordination could inhibit the UK’s ability to decarbonise and stifle growth for a nascent yet transformative application and industry. Success depends on vehicles and infrastructure being planned in a coordinated way, joined-up thinking throughout the value chain, and a push against a piecemeal approach to development.
The pitfalls of the piecemeal approach
A piecemeal approach creates challenges and risks. Without coordinated infrastructure and vehicle rollout, both freight and infrastructure operators will face a familiar chicken-and-egg problem. Fleet managers find it hard to justify adopting hydrogen HGVs without the refuelling stations, while investors fail to see the potential in refuelling stations without fleets to use them.
Getting refuelling infrastructure wrong, or planning it too late, can leave vehicles temporarily unusable. There have been notable cases of hydrogen fleets, such as buses, being mothballed because refuelling stations or hydrogen fuel became unavailable. This leaves fleet managers with an inoperable fleet, jeopardising the business case for more hydrogen adoption because those vehicles are no longer generating revenue.
The major fallout from a piecemeal approach is a lack of market confidence. And this is something the UK can’t risk, especially in the early stages of hydrogen freight growth. The Hydrogen Energy Association (HEA), in partnership with the Road Haulage Association and the Construction Plant-hire Association, has highlighted the infrastructure gap between the UK and Europe. It has called for a national roadmap for hydrogen fuel and refuelling infrastructure to provide market certainty and attract private investment. As an executive of the HEA, I believe a piecemeal approach to development would undermine these efforts and run counter to any successful roadmap.
Ultimately, none of these issues are technological. They are simply planning ‘failures’ that we can avoid through co-evolution.
Calling for coordination
Co-evolving hydrogen infrastructure entails advancing the entire value chain in a coordinated manner. This form of end-to-end coordination includes hydrogen production, distribution, the right refuelling infrastructure, and the right vehicles. It requires overcoming silos, fostering close collaboration among stakeholders, and planning and coordinating technical requirements and standards. But if done effectively, it can avoid the pitfalls mentioned above, providing the reliability and security that all stakeholders need.
Hydrogen freight corridors are a prime example of what happens when you co-evolve hydrogen infrastructure. The government-backed HyHaul project – part of the Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrator programme – is an upcoming example of this approach. The project involves up to 30 fuel-cell HGVs and three sites along the M4, with refuelling stations providing on-site hydrogen storage, high-capacity compression for 700 and 350 bar, and dispensing technology suitable for high-throughput HGV operations. Electrolysers produce the hydrogen at a site in South Wales, and tankers distribute it to the refuelling stations. The HGV operators have been identified, and the whole value chain – from end to end – is being moved forward together.
Hydrogen freight corridors give fleet and infrastructure operators confidence. Freight has fixed trunking routes, so refuelling infrastructure can be strategically placed along them to give all stakeholders certainty. Corridors are an example of joined-up thinking: they create sufficient demand density to justify infrastructure investment, with many logistics companies using these routes and refuelling stations. They also create sufficient infrastructure coverage to justify investment in hydrogen HGVs for fleet managers.
The refuelling stations have a dual purpose. Though primarily for HGVs, they can be used by other fleets and even the public. Smaller vehicle fleets can use the refuelling infrastructure to support their own decarbonisation efforts. This could be as an alternative to having their own dedicated depot refuelling, or simply as a form of public refuelling within their service area. With the right stakeholder engagement, these ‘secondary customers’ can be planned into a project from the start.
The result for infrastructure operators is a more robust business model that reduces the dependence on any one type of customer and maximises utilisation rates. This makes individual projects more viable and supports overall market confidence. For hydrogen producers, it ensures a steady, reliable off-take agreement that mitigates risks while helping maintain a reliable supply that prevents fleets from being taken off road temporarily.
The right path at a critical point
Hydrogen for freight is at a critical juncture. The technology is proven, the environmental and legislative imperative is clear, and government support is starting to come through with projects like HyHaul. And while projects like this demonstrate what’s possible when government backing enables end-to-end coordination across the hydrogen value chain, ongoing support is needed to replicate this model across the UK. With such support available, I am confident in its success.
In short, hydrogen freight corridors bypass the chicken-egg problem, drive broader hydrogen fleet adoption, minimise asset risks, and bolster market confidence throughout and beyond the hydrogen sector.
