The freight transport company has been handed a multi-year contract by the hydrogen fuel retailer, Element 2, which will see hydrogen transported from partner production sites to Element 2 refuelling stations in the North and Midland regions of the country.
H2 View understands the scope of XPO’s service will expand nationally, in line with the network as additional production partners and retailing sites come online, with Element 2 aiming for complete market coverage in the UK and Ireland by 2027.
XPO has said, it will leverage experience in bulk transporting fuels and utilise a dedicated fleet of gas trailers and provide specially trained drivers to collect and distribute the clean energy carrier.
Last Thursday (July 21), Element 2 announced it was set to establish the first two public hydrogen refuelling stations for heavy goods vehicle (HGV) in partnership with Exelby Services, in Yorkshire and Cumbria.
Read more: UK to gain two permanent hydrogen refuelling stations under new partnership
Element 2’s announcement followed on from revealed aspirations to deploy over 800 hydrogen pumps in the UK by 2027, and 2,000 by 2030 after it inked an agreement with Logan Energy.
Read more: Element 2 joins forces with Logan Energy to deploy hundreds of hydrogen pumps in the UK
James Harris, chief operating officer, Element 2, said, “The safe, reliable transport of hydrogen across our network is of critical importance to our mission and to the success of the hydrogen economy.
“We’re very pleased to be able to work with one of the UK’s most trusted names in transportation to serve our locations and valued customers. We’re primed and ready to fuel the country’s road transport sector with high quality, clean hydrogen fuel.”
Dan Myers, Managing Director of UK and Ireland at XPO Logistics, commented, “We share Element 2’s commitment to decarbonising the UK economy and firmly believe that green hydrogen will be playing a critical part in achieving this vital aim. Together, we’ll be creating a network to support UK commercial transport in making the necessary step change to a carbon-neutral future.”
Did you miss this exclusive interview with Tim Harper, CEO of Element 2?
When asked about Element 2’s ambitious goal to deploy 800 hydrogen pumps in the UK by 2027, the company’s CEO, Tim Harper, told H2 View he wants to “just get on and do it to break the whole chicken and the egg situation.”
Clearly passionate about the UK’s hydrogen economy, and the country’s journey to net zero, Harper explained that the company’s ambitions all started over a pot of earl grey with his Co-Founder, Brendan Bilton, at the Coniston Hotel in the Yorkshire Dales.
“I have been looking into it [hydrogen] for 20 years, and my Co-Founder Brendan Bilton, he has been involved in hydrogen and fuel cell companies. A couple of years ago we were talking about doing something together in hydrogen, but the question always stood: What shall we do?
“With that in mind, we decided to have a meeting at the Coniston Hotel over a pot of earl grey and figure out exactly what we were going to do. I always like to map things out, and once we started mapping out our plans, we realised that there was a big link missing to connect hydrogen supply and demand in the UK – there was nobody putting the refuelling infrastructure in place.”
Shortly after the business partners’ meeting, the infrastructure idea begun to snowball, and the company now wants to deploy more than 800 hydrogen pumps in the country within the next six years to get the hydrogen mobility ball rolling – a goal that many find extraordinary.
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