Dutch State Secretary for Infrastructure Viviane Heijnen has put some €125 million aside to subsidize the building of new hydrogen tank stations with an adjoining fleet of 10 to 15 hydrogen-driven trucks to ensure profitability. An attempt to solve the eternal chicken-and-egg problem by forcing the transport and energy sectors to shake hands.

The new subsidy is put up for commenting publicly and should become available from March 2024 until 2028. Heijnen hopes to push the sectors to open 40 new hydrogen stations in the Netherlands to service a few thousand vehicles on clean hydrogen as an alternative to battery-electric trucks and vans.

Promise of hydrogen

“Hydrogen can really breakthrough with this,” Heijnen says in a press release. “The promise of hydrogen has been there for years. Especially for entrepreneurs who want to drive clean over longer distances with a heavier vehicle, for example, a truck, hydrogen can be ideal. But then there must be enough filling stations and plenty to choose from for entrepreneurs. It’s time we make sure hydrogen delivers on its promise.”

Battery-electric trucks are considered the most viable option for regular transport for daily distances up to 400 km. A 2022 study by the Dutch technical research institute TNO about the possible uptake of zero-emission trucks to replace diesel in the coming years showed that the battery-electric truck (BET) is the most cost-effective (only) option from 2030. Fuel cell trucks will play a marginal role due to higher costs.

The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) has also conducted a study in 2022 on the viability of decarbonizing European road transport with hydrogen trucks by 2030. Even with dropping (green) hydrogen prices and more stringent CO2 reduction measures, subsidies will still be needed to bridge the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) gap between renewable hydrogen and diesel.

So to give hydrogen a push as an alternative, with the money, the Secretary of State wants to subsidize up to 40% of the building costs for the hydrogen station. Those costs are the sum of all systems, equipment, and infrastructure required for the functioning of a hydrogen refueling station, including compressors and dispensers, storage tanks, cooling, ventilation, and safety systems.

Trucks and cars

These fueling stations have to be publicly accessible both for trucks and private cars on hydrogen. To solve the profitability problem, the subsidy is only granted in adjunction to support a fleet of 10 to 15 hydrogen trucks that will use the station to fill up regularly. For these vehicles, a premium of up to 80% of the difference with a comparable diesel variant is foreseen.

The other way around, for the transport sector to get the subsidy, they have to join an application for at least one hydrogen fueling station. This way, the State Secretary wants to force the energy and transport sectors to work together instead of pointing at each other to take the initiative.

She hopes to push the building of 40 new fueling stations for the Netherlands this way, on top of the 17 existing today. Europe forces the Netherlands to have at least 30 hydrogen fueling stations along major traffic routes by 2030. However, only four of the seventeen meet the European standards today in size, capacity, and accessibility.