Built with the backing of the European Commission’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) programme, the public refuelling station in Bettembourg at the CFL Eurohub Sud truck stop operated by TotalEnergies was launched in September 2023.

In an inauguration ceremony attended by government officials, the station was hailed as the first step in supporting road users’ transition to zero-emissions.

Planned to serve both light, commercial and heavy-duty vehicles, delivering hydrogen at 350 and 700 bar, it comes as part of the H2Benelux project which aims to establish eight hydrogen refuelling stations along the trans-European transport corridors in Benelux to support the deployment of 80 fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs).

However, in response to parliamentary questions, Luxembourg’s Minister of Mobility, Yuriko Backes, revealed the opening of the Bettembourg station, which received an EU grant of almost €1m ($1.07m), “has been delayed.”

Backes said operator TotalEnergies has reported it is currently carrying out refuelling tests with final certification expected this month (April 2024).

H2 View has contacted TotalEnergies for confirmation on why the station has been delayed.

The energy major in January (2024) launched a hydrogen refuelling joint venture (JV) with Air Liquide, dubbed TEAL Mobility, to establish a network of 100 stations for heavy-duty trucks in France, the Netherlands, Belgium Luxembourg and Germany.

Read more: Air Liquide and TotalEnergies launch hydrogen refuelling joint venture

H2Benelux, made up of TotalEnergies, Shell, Colruyt Group, Rijkswaterstaat and WaterstofNet, plans to build four refuelling stations in the Netherlands and three in Belgium in addition to the single station in Luxembourg.

All the stations have to be publicly accessible, have 200kg/day capacity, and be located along or close to highways. Under the consortium’s plans, “a real trial of at least 10 FCEVs is performed by each station.”