Australia’s first hydrogen refuelling station for heavy transport vehicles
Coregas, the largest Australian owned industrial gases company, launches the Coregas H2Station, Australia’s first hydrogen refuelling station for heavy vehicles. The H2Station is leading the clean mobility revolution and will stimulate Australia’s emerging hydrogen sector.
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.
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,” 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.”
Transitioning Coregas’ diesel truck fleet to FCEVs is a cornerstone of the company’s decarbonisation roadmap. “Coregas’ diesel truck fleet travels more than 6 million kilometres every year,” said Alan. “That’s equivalent to driving 150 times around the world, which contributes to 54% of Coregas’ carbon emissions.”
Minister for Regional NSW, Tara Moriarty, said the NSW Government was proud to support this pioneering project to refuel Australia’s first hydrogen-powered heavy road vehicles.
“Heavy road transport is a major carbon-emitting sector and Port Kembla is leading the way towards a more diverse energy future following today’s opening of the Coregas H2Station,” Ms Moriarty said.
“This project is an important first step towards decarbonising the local transport industry that will also demonstrate the feasibility of using hydrogen-powered heavy vehicles more broadly in regional NSW.”
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 400 kilograms 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.
For more information visit: www.coregas.com.au
