New industry collaboration for hydrogen trucking at mass-market scale in Europe: H2Accelerate
16 December 2020
Daimler Truck AG, IVECO, OMV, Shell and the Volvo Group have committed to work together to help create the conditions for the mass-market roll-out of hydrogen trucks in Europe. The partners signed a collaboration agreement—H2Accelerate—under which the participants will work together to:
Seek public support to fund early pre-commercial projects to activate the market on the path towards a mass market roll-out;
Communicate around the technical and commercial viability of hydrogen fuelled trucking at scale; and
Hold discussions with policy makers and regulators to encourage policies which can support a sustainable and speedy activation of the zero emissions long haul trucking market.
As a growing number of governments and businesses align on a common vision of a net-zero emissions energy system, the H2Accelerate participants believe that hydrogen is an essential fuel for the complete decarbonisation of the truck sector.
Achieving a large-scale roll-out of hydrogen-fueled trucks is expected to create new industries: zero-carbon hydrogen production facilities, large-scale hydrogen distribution systems, a network of high-capacity refuelling stations for liquid and gaseous hydrogen, and the production of the hydrogen-fueled trucks.
H2A participants believe that synchronized investments across the sector during the 2020s will create the conditions for the mass market roll-out of hydrogen-fueled heavy-duty transportation which is required to meet the European ambition of net zero emissions by 2050.
The decade-long scale-up is expected to begin with groups of customers willing to make an early commitment to hydrogen-based trucking. These fleets are expected to operate in regional clusters and along European high capacity corridors with good refueling station coverage. During the decade, these clusters can then be interconnected to build a truly pan-European network.
Phase 1 | Phase 2 |
Rollout Of First Stations And Trucks | Europe-Wide Coverage |
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Throughout the scale up, support from the public sector will be required. Under H2Accelerate, the participants expect to work together to seek funding for early pre-commercial projects during the first phase of the roll-out. In parallel, the participants will engage with policy makers and regulators to encourage a policy environment which will help support the subsequent scale up into volume manufacturing for hydrogen trucks and a Europe-wide refuelling network for zero carbon hydrogen fuel.
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