Grant and collaboration brings mobile hydrogen tank closer

One of the biggest barriers to using hydrogen as a fuel is the lack of a hydrogen infrastructure. H2Milkrun is a project that aims to lower the threshold for companies with a mobile hydrogen tank service. Companies can thus test whether hydrogen is suitable for their operation, and subscribe to the tank service. The province of Gelderland and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) are paying a total of €719,712 in subsidies to a consortium of Gelderland companies developing the mobile hydrogen refueling service. The H2Milkrun is expected to run in the first quarter of 2022.

Hydrogen vehicles, such as forklifts, construction equipment, agricultural machinery, cleaning trucks usually rely on an on-site refueling station. For potential owners of these vehicles, mostly companies, it is just a step too far to invest in a complete hydrogen infrastructure in the testing phase. A survey shows that there are enough companies in the region willing to switch to hydrogen for their vehicles after a thorough testing phase. The H2Milkrun facilitates that. 

The pump comes to you 

A mobile pump allows companies to try out the use of hydrogen for commercial vehicles on their own premises. That is what the H2Milkrun project is all about. The partners are developing two trucks that can run on hydrogen while carrying a mobile hydrogen refueling system. The partners of the H2Milkrun project want to bring the mobile hydrogen pump to the company, like the milkman of yesteryear. If they like it, the companies can then proceed to purchase their own hydrogen refueling station. In this way, the H2Milkrun is the demo mechanism to go from hydrogen 'wish' to hydrogen 'commitment'. By using hydrogen, less fossil fuels are needed, reducing CO₂ emissions. 

Growth voucher 

Oost NL was able to contribute to the project by providing the consortium with a voucher from De Groeiversneller Energie, a program that Oost NL implements for the Province of Gelderland, . With the voucher, H2Milkrun engaged an expert (Wederic from Huizen) who guided the subsidy application guidance. RCT Gelderland supported the consortium in the development of the hydrogen refueling service and looked at where H2Milkrun could align with the specific goals for transport and mobility from the Gelderland Energy Agreement.

The H2Milkrun consortium consists of seven partners: MobiHy (Gendringen), HyMove (Arnhem), Veth Automotive (Duiven), Rijngas (Dinxperlo), Toyota Material Handling Nederland (Ede), Stichting Wageningen Research (Wageningen) and GINAF Trucks Nederland (Veenendaal). They will receive a total grant amount of €719,712. The total cost of the project is 1,452,682 euros. 

The project is made possible with support from the European Union and the European Regional Development Fund.