TotalEnergies aims to establish network of refuelling stations for hydrogen trucks
TotalEnergies, a French oil and gas company, is shifting towards renewables. It has set an ambitious goal for the upcoming decade to establish a network of hydrogen refuelling stations in the European Union. This will speed up the green revolution in the road freight sector.
By 2030, the French multi-energy company intends to open up to 150 hydrogen refuelling stations in western Europe, particularly in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg and France. The mentioned points will be mainly dedicated to heavy goods vehicles. As a result, TotalEnergies have teamed up with Daimler Truck, the German truck manufacturer that is also focused on hydrogen. Together they will develop and promote the necessary ecosystem for hydrogen-powered trucks.
“Our company is actively exploring all aspects of the value chain of Hydrogen for mobility, from production to supply and distribution, and is building important partnerships to this effect. We want to build a multi-energies company with the ambition to get to Net Zero by 2050, together with society. Therefore, the creation of a European network of H2 truck stations for mobility is one of the key challenges we intend to tackle,” explained Alexis Vovk, president for marketing & services and member of the TotalEnergies Executive Committee.
Details of cooperation
The cooperation between TotalEnergies and Daimler Truck will be carried out in several directions. One of them is to jointly develop hydrogen sourcing, logistics, hydrogen-powered trucks and establish a customer base. For instance, Daimler Truck will deliver its hydrogen lorries to customers in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg and France by 2025. Another direction of cooperation is the investigation and reduction of the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of hydrogen truck operations, which is in line with their common approach to work together with authorities on the regulatory framework in the European Union.
“We are fully committed to the Paris Climate Agreement, and we want to actively contribute to the decarbonisation of road freight transport in the European Union. Regarding the long-haul freight segment, we are convinced that CO2-neutral transportation will be enabled in the future by hydrogen-powered fuel cell trucks as well as purely battery-powered trucks. In order to make this possible, we want to establish a pan-European hydrogen ecosystem together with strong partners such as TotalEnergies. I am fully convinced that this collaboration will play a key role in our intensified activities on the road toward hydrogen-powered trucking,” noted Karin Rådström, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Trucks and member of the board of management at Daimler Truck.