Auto giant Toyota has signed an agreement with French utility Engie to roll out “the next generation of hydrogen refuelling systems”, which promise to be faster and cheaper than existing technology.
As a first step, the partners will demonstrate the new “higher-flow dual nozzle” hydrogen dispenser from French manufacturer Hydrogen Refueling Solutions (HRS), which can output H2 at high speed at both 350 bar (for heavy-duty vehicles) and 700 bar (for light-duty vehicles).
“This innovation eliminates the need for two different types of dispensers at each refuelling station,” said Toyota. “The practical benefit is that a 40-tonne truck will be able to refuel for a 600km range in just 8 minutes and for a 900km range in only 12 minutes.”
The RHeaDHy pilot project, which is backed by an EU grant worth €4m ($4.17m), will test HRS's Twin Mid Flow Technology on a specially equipped truck at HRS’s Grenoble facilities, with a hydrogen refuelling station to be developed this year and tested in the fourth quarter of this year.
“The installation cost of such hydrogen refuelling stations will be significantly lower, which will help accelerate their deployment in line with the target set out by European Union’s Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) to deploy publicly accessible hydrogen stations at every 200km along the TEN-T networks by 2030,” Toyota said in a press statement.
AFIR requires that these H2 refuelling sites can service both light-duty and heavy-duty vehicles, with a minimum capacity of one tonne per day and the ability to dispense gaseous hydrogen at 700 bar.
The regulation also stipulates that member states set out their own interim targets that would show a clear trajectory towards meeting the 2030 ambition.
Hydrogen is currently expensive at filling points across Europe, with stations displaying prices between €12.85 and €23.99 per kilogram at time of publication, according to H2.live.
Industry insiders have previously suggested that the price of H2 for fuel at this point in time is more influenced by the cost of building and maintaining refuelling stations, rather than the cost of production.
HRS CEO Hassen Rachedi declared that the new technology “will revolutionize the market, reducing refueling times and making hydrogen stations more accessible and cost-effective”.
