FRANKFURT: Germany’s H2 Mobility fuelling station network said on Tuesday it will get an extra 110 million euros ($121 million) over the next five years to roll out more infrastructure for fuel cell vehicles powered by hydrogen.
Of the total sum, hydrogen investment platform Hy24 will inject 70 million euros through the Clean H2 Infra Fund, which it manages, and H2 Mobility’s seven other existing shareholders will stump up 40 million euros.
Green hydrogen is in the spotlight in Europe, where European Union environment ministers want truck CO2 emissions cut by a third by 2030 from 2019 levels.
While battery powered vehicles have established a lead in the truck sector, fuel cell driven ones are expected in greater numbers in the long-haul segment in a fierce technology battle.
H2 Mobility’s existing investors are industrial gases makers Air Liquide and Linde, Daimler Truck and Hyundai Motor Co, utility OMV and oil companies Total and Shell.
H2 Mobility’s managing director Nikolas Iwan said the money being raised will go into expanding the fuelling station network and gradually help it become profitable.
“We operate 92 stations, some can serve trucks already today, all can serve light commercial vehicles and passenger cars,” he said.
“The next step is to create stations with more refuelling capacity to be ready for the expected ramp-up of intensive use vehicles, in particular trucks and buses, due to come from the auto manufacturers,” he said.
Iwan said H2 Mobility aspired to break-even in 2026, once anchor customers bring more volume.
Hy24 is a joint venture between private equity firm Ardian and big energy, chemical and financial firms grouped in the FiveT Hydrogen investment platform.
Also Read:
China, the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has been striving to balance energy security and achieve its climate change goals, and is focusing on hydrogen to reduce carbon emissions from its transportation and industrial sectors.
NTPC Simhadri’s Chief General Manager Diwakar Kaushik said that NTPC has awarded the Standalone Fuel-Cell based 50kW micro-grid pilot project with hydrogen production using eletrolyser to Bloom Energy India Private Limited-Bengaluru.