Australian industrial gases company Coregas has launched Australia’s first hydrogen refuelling station for heavy vehicles, H2Station.
While Australia’s renewable energy revolution is underway, the transport sector remains a largely untapped opportunity for emissions reductions.
Unlike batteries for electric vehicles, Fuel Cell Electrical Vehicles (FCEV) powered by hydrogen deliver heavy vehicles a lighter, longer-distance solution combined with fast refuelling and high payload capability.
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Construction of the $2 million H2Station has been assisted by a $500,000 NSW Government grant.
The H2Station will facilitate the introduction of zero emissions hydrogen fuel cell trucks to the Illawarra-Shoalhaven region and future industry partners using H2 heavy vehicles will be encouraged to access the H2Station, which can rapidly refuel up to 10 vehicles daily.
The H2Station is a low-cost commercial solution capitalising on existing infrastructure aimed to seed a future network of hydrogen fuelled transport.
“Locating H2Station alongside Coregas’ existing hydrogen production plant and transport hub for bulk hydrogen in Port Kembla created operational and cost efficiencies,” Coregas executive general manager Alan Watkins said.
“The H2Station will allow hydrogen trucks to access the majority of the Illawarra-Shoalhaven region and reach metropolitan Sydney.”
Transitioning Coregas’ diesel truck fleet to FCEVs is a cornerstone of the company’s decarbonisation roadmap.
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“Coregas’ diesel truck fleet travels more than 6 million kilometres every year,” Watkins said.
“That’s equivalent to driving 150 times around the world, which contributes to 54% of Coregas’ carbon emissions.”
Working with project partner Haskel, the H2Station will compress hydrogen from the existing Coregas plant up to 500bar, enabling supply into the 350bar cylinders on board the FCEV. The hydrogen dispensing system has the capacity to discharge 400kg of fuel cell grade hydrogen.
