First hydrogen refueling station for trucks opens

With plenty of companies looking to hydrogen for heavy-duty truck power in the future, many are asking how the trucks will be refueled.

Coregas has answered part of the question by opening the first hydrogen refueling station in Port Kembla, NSW.

Construction of the $2m 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 local 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-fueled transport.

“Locating the H2Station alongside Coregas’s existing hydrogen production plant and transport hub for bulk hydrogen in Port Kembla created operational and cost efficiencies,” said Alan Watkins, Executive General Manager at Coregas in Australia

“The H2Station will allow hydrogen trucks to access the majority of the Illawarra-Shoalhaven region and reach metropolitan Sydney.”

Mr Watkins said that transitioning Coregas’s diesel truck fleet to FCEVs is a cornerstone of the company’s decarbonisation roadmap.

“Coregas’s diesel truck fleet travels almost six million kilometres every year,” he said. “That’s equivalent to driving 150 times around the world, which contributes to 54 per cent of Coregas’s 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.

“The Hydrogen system utilises our world-leading compression, storage and dispensing equipment specifically designed and optimised for Port Kembla,” said Stewart Anderson, Haskel Hydrogen Business Development Manager (APAC).

By facilitating the introduction of hydrogen trucks in Australia, Coregas is building demand for its locally produced hydrogen gas and supporting the broader community to decarbonise their transport.