By Nick Walker
In central New Plymouth, a small team of energy professionals has spent the last eight years designing, developing and operating Aotearoa New Zealand’s first green hydrogen refuelling network.
Hiringa Energy is an award-winning green hydrogen company focused on using emissions-free hydrogen fuel to decarbonise sectors that have traditionally been extremely hard to decarbonise.
The new green hydrogen refuelling network is one of the first in the world developed specifically for heavy transport. This is one of our highest emitting industries, with 25 per cent of Aotearoa New Zealand’s vehicle emissions coming from trucks, which account for less than four per cent of our total vehicle count.
Trucking operators have never previously had an alternative to diesel for big gear, but next month marks one year since Hiringa opened its first green hydrogen refuelling station in Wiri, South Auckland.
Station number four will soon open, adding Tauranga to the other stations in Hamilton and Palmerston North. The network will then cover more than 95 per cent of the North Island’s heavy freight routes, with concentrated coverage of the Golden Triangle of Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga, where 42 per cent of New Zealand’s road freight happens.
‘We’ve made green hydrogen a viable fuel for trucking operators to offer their customers, who can now eliminate heavy transport emissions from their domestic supply chain and better achieve their sustainability goals,’ says Hiringa Head of New Business Ryan McDonald.
Refuelling stations
The hydrogen refuelling stations have been built alongside Waitomo Group fuel stops that also service petrol and diesel vehicles. It allows operators to fuel up in the exact same way they’re used to, except with zero-emission green hydrogen instead of fossil fuels.
Refuelling stations are much more than dispensaries – they also double as hydrogen production facilities. Hydrogen is made onsite using electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen through an electrolyser. Hydrogen is compressed and stored onsite before being dispensed into vehicles.
No carbon is emitted through this process when only renewable energy, such as wind and solar, is used, which is why it’s considered green hydrogen.
Cutting carbon, not capacity
Green hydrogen is considered an ideal zero emission fuel for the heavy transport industry because it removes emissions while maintaining vehicle productivity. This is critical because, while transport operators are keen to decarbonise, they are understandably reluctant for it to undermine the efficiency of their business.
Hydrogen trucks can carry a similar payload, with a similar range to diesel equivalents. They can also be refuelled in as little as 15 minutes – similar to what it takes to fuel up a diesel truck – so trucks can get back on the road quickly.
Fast refuelling is a key differentiator in the use cases of hydrogen versus battery electric trucks. Hydrogen flows through the refuelling nozzle into fuel cell trucks at a rate equivalent to that of a three- to four-megawatt electric charger.
Not only would such a charger be prohibitively expensive for operators to build and install, but it would involve significant grid disruption. At the same time, recharging would take at least a few hours, making electric trucks better suited to local use where they can be plugged in overnight.
Linehaul trucks that operate on longer routes across New Zealand are best suited to hydrogen fuel, and it’s these trucks that the Hiringa green hydrogen refuelling network has been designed for.
Design and innovation
Innovation has helped to drive down the cost and time of developing refuelling stations. As an example, Hiringa refuelling stations feature an innovative break between hydrogen storage units and the pump to ensure ultra-fast refuelling.
Rather than having one big storage bank, as is the case in some overseas stations where refuelling speeds drop away on subsequent fills, the interface is broken into 12 smaller banks. This ensures high-speed refuelling on back-to-back refills.
From delivering the first station to the third, construction time fell by 33 per cent, install times got 22 per cent faster, and the cost of drying equipment was slashed by 93 per cent.
The hydrogen future
This year promises to be a big one for hydrogen in New Zealand. Hiringa customers recently ticked over 100,000 kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions prevented by using green hydrogen fuel. New Zealand’s first fuel cell truck, operated by NZ Post, has clocked more than 140,000 kilometres, and is on our roads doing deliveries every day.
Recent surveys with transport operators found that many have plans to get hydrogen trucks on the road in the next 12 to 18 months.
The New Zealand hydrogen fleet is growing and scaling, as the national refuelling network does the same. Green hydrogen is no longer a fuel of the future – it is here. Hydrogen is viable, reliable and happening now.