The Protium Green subsidiary, HyHaul Mobility, is developing three refuelling stations to support the deployment of up to 30 hydrogen fuel cell trucks. Last month, the company invested £14m ($19m) to purchase the equipment and associated civil works required.
FCSL will act as the official hydrogen refuelling infrastructure partner for the project. Its HyFleet systems will be deployed at the Reading and Avonmouth locations.
The UK-based company claimed the technology is capable of providing on-site hydrogen storage, compression and dispensing.
Manufactured in West Berkshire, Dr. Lee Juby, CEO of FCSL, said the HyFleet systems are built to meet the demands of heavy-duty vehicle operations.
“[HyFleet] builds on the success of our HyQube system, a smaller, modular unit that has been deployed across the UK and Europe since 2019 for vehicle trials and small fleet use,” the CEO added.
Fuel Cell Systems’ products will use green hydrogen produced at Protium’s production facilities in Wales for refuelling operations. Protium’s Pioneer 1 facility, which commenced operations in 2023, has a reported production capacity of 40kg of hydrogen per day.
The HyHaul investment project is expected to be the largest of its kind ever in UK hydrogen heavy-duty refuelling.
Since 2014, domestic transport has produced the most greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) of all UK sectors, with HGVs accounting for 17% of that, emitting 19.1 million tonnes of CO2 in 2022.
HyHaul and its partners aim to save 1,900 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually and plan to scale to to 300 HGVs by 2030.
HyHaul is funded through the Department for Transport’s (DfT) £200m ($266m) Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrator (ZEHID) programme, which aims to accelerate the rollout of hydrogen infrastructure and vehicles across the UK.
Currently, H2 View understands there are only three hydrogen refuelling stations in the UK suitable for passenger vehicles, and just two designed for heavy-duty use – highlighting the scale and significance of the HyHaul project.