300 hydrogen trucks will be rolled out in Belgium
At least 300 hydrogen-powered trucks will appear on the roads of Belgium by 2025. To this end, a network of hydrogen fuelling stations will be created in the country and the neighbouring regions of the Netherlands and Germany. These developments will be implemented within the HyTrucks project.
To reduce CO2 emissions by more than 100,000 tonnes per year, Air Liquide, DATS 24 and Port of Antwerp launch the HyTrucks initiative earlier this month, which is dedicated to rolling out at least 300 hydrogen-powered trucks in Belgium by 2025. They will transport freight mainly to or from the Port of Antwerp and other Belgian logistics hubs.
Meanwhile, the joint project has a much more ambitious goal to enabling 1,000 hydrogen heavy goods vehicles to run on the roads of Belgium and the adjacent areas of the Netherlands and Germany. To achieve this, the partners will create a network of hydrogen fuelling stations. It will consist of 25 installations that will be located in the area between Europe’s key logistics hubs: Antwerp, Rotterdam and Duisburg. “We are convinced of the pivotal role that hydrogen will play in the energy transition, especially for heavy-duty applications,” Diederick Luijten, Vice President Hydrogen Energy Europe for Air Liquide, said.
HyTrucks initiative
The HyTrucks initiative is a significant step towards the hydrogen economy as it joined forces of three key players of the planned hydrogen supply chain: Air Liquide (France-based multinational gas supplier that also produces hydrogen), DATS 24 (the largest CNG supplier in Belgium, which is a part of Colruyt Group) and the Port of Antwerp (an important European gateway for transporting chemicals and fuels). “We want to give hydrogen every chance as an energy carrier, a basic element for chemistry and a fuel, and are therefore committing ourselves as an active pioneer in the hydrogen economy. As a world port and Europe’s largest integrated chemical cluster, we are an important link in this chain,” Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO of Port of Antwerp, added.
Both Air Liquide and DAT 24 have successful experience in producing and using hydrogen as a fuel for road transport. For instance, Colruyt Group, a parental company of DATS 24 launched its first hydrogen fuelling station. “At the end of 2020, Colruyt Group also put the first 44-tonne hydrogen-powered electric truck in Europe into service. So clearly, we believe fuel cell and hydrogen technology is a very promising zero-emission powertrain solution for transports and logistics,” Raf Flebus, business unit manager at DATS 24, noted.