‘Chicken and egg situation’ | Dutch government will subsidise hydrogen filling stations and trucks — together or not at all
€22m programme aims to break investment deadlock by supporting H2 filling station proposals that also involve H2 trucks
Hydrogen: hype, hope and the hard truths around its role in the energy transition
Announced yesterday (Tuesday), the plan aims to break what officials call “the chicken and egg situation”, in which investment in hydrogen filling stations is held back due to a lack of hydrogen trucks to refuel, and investment in hydrogen trucks is also held back due to a lack of refuelling infrastructure.
Filling stations that want to attract funds from the multimillion-euro pot will need to purchase an average of 20-25 hydrogen trucks per station.
“This can also be done in co-operation between the parties,” Dutch central government said in a statement. “In this way, supply and demand are created simultaneously, and profitable hydrogen filling stations can see the light of day in more and more places in the country.”
The fund should be enough to deliver an extra five to ten filling stations with accompanying trucks in the country, Amsterdam hopes, indicating that it may be prepared to furnish the scheme with more cash in future.
“Subsidy is necessary, because investing in hydrogen trucks or buses is a lot more expensive than in their diesel brothers and sisters,” the government added.
The Netherlands already has 14 hydrogen filling stations within its borders, but not all of them are equipped for heavy vehicles.
The scheme is the result of negotiations between logistics trade body Transport en Logistiek Nederland and the Netherlands’ environment minister Vivianne Heijnen.
“It is important that investments are made in the infrastructure of zero-emission vehicles,” said Elisabeth Post, chairman of the board of Transport en Logistiek Nederland. “This does not only apply to battery-electric vehicles, but certainly also to hydrogen-electric ones.”
The scheme is the result of negotiations between logistics trade body Transport en Logistiek Nederland and the Netherlands’ environment minister Vivianne Heijnen.
“It is important that investments are made in the infrastructure of zero-emission vehicles,” said Elisabeth Post, chairman of the board of Transport en Logistiek Nederland. “This does not only apply to battery-electric vehicles, but certainly also to hydrogen-electric ones.”
Nevertheless, several policy and commercial initiatives are underway to develop hydrogen trucking in Europe.
The Netherlands is banning sales of new fossil fuel-powered trucks from 2040, with a view to total decarbonisation of the sector by 2050.
And Belgian-Dutch initiative HyTrucks aims to develop 25 hydrogen refuelling stations, and deploy 1,000 hydrogen trucks in Belgium, Germany and Netherlands by 2025.
The EU is targeting a hydrogen filling stations installed every 150km along major highways by 2031 — a target that the European Parliament is considering tightening to every 100km by 2028.
And the bloc is also overhauling its Renewable Energy Directive II (REDII), which is expected to introduce a 2.6% target for renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs) such as green hydrogen in transport.
(Copyright)