HyTruck wants 300 hydrogen-powered trucks on Belgian roads by 2025

Air Liquide, DATS24, and the Port of Antwerp form the HyTrucks consortium to deploy 300 hydrogen-powered trucks in Belgium as part of the HyTrucks initiative.

By2025, this project aims to put 1,000 hydrogen-powered zero-emission trucks on the road and to build the necessary infrastructure to link Belgium, the Netherlands, and western Germany.

The alliance intends to deploy hydrogen-powered trucks primarily in the region surrounding Antwerp’s Port and major logistics hubs in Belgium. Hydrogen trucks can be used extensively on both local and international routes.

HyTrucks is one of the main European initiatives aimed at deploying zero-emission heavy-duty fleets in Europe’s most congested regions. It aims to dramatically reduce CO2 emissions by more than 100,000 tonnes per year, or 110 million kilometers powered, through the use of 1,000 trucks and the establishment of a first network of 25 high-capacity hydrogen stations linking Antwerp, Rotterdam, and Duisburg. The HyTrucks project in Belgium aims to reduce CO2 emissions by an estimated 30,000 tonnes per year, or 33 million kilometers operated.

The Flemish and Dutch governments designated Air Liquide and DATS 24 initiatives as “important project of common European interest” (IPCEI) and thus qualified for support from the European, Federal, and Flemish governments. IPCEI enables enhanced state aid and will assist the project in moving forward as a first-of-its-kind with modern technologies.

“Fighting climate change is central to the mission of Air Liquide. With our significant hydrogen infrastructure and investments in Belgium, we are ideally positioned to bring solutions to decarbonise transports. We are convinced of the pivotal role that hydrogen will play in the energy transition, especially for heavy-duty applications. Air Liquide is proud to bring its 50 years of expertise in the hydrogen value chain to the HyTrucks project.“

Diederick Luijten, Vice President Hydrogen Energy Europe for Air Liquide.

“Colruyt Group has produced its own, 100% green hydrogen for almost a decade.  Three years ago, we opened the very first all inclusive public hydrogen fuel station in Europe. The upcoming months, four additional public fuel stations will be fitted with a hydrogen installation for cars: Haasrode, Wilrijk, Erpe-Mere & Herve.  At the end of 2020, Colruyt Group also put the first 44-tonne hydrogen powered electric truck in Europe into service. So clearly, we believe fuel cell and hydrogen technology is a very promising zero-emission powertrain solution for transports and logistics. This HyTrucks project is yet another significant step towards zero emissions in transport.”

Raf Flebus, BU manager of DATS 24.

“We want to give hydrogen every chance as an energy carrier, a basic element for chemistry and a fuel, and are therefore committing ourselves as an active pioneer in the hydrogen economy. As a world port and Europe’s largest integrated chemical cluster, we are an important link in this chain.Thanks to the collaboration between partners with the right expertise, we have all the assets we need to take further concrete steps in this regard and to set an example for other ports and regions.“

Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO of Port of Antwerp.