HW Richardson (HWR) innovation manager Kim Hill welcomed the opening of a hydrogen fuel station in South Auckland last month and said the company’s own hydrogen fuel station was on track to be opened before the end of this year.
With the South Auckland opening, Hiringa Energy now has three hydrogen fuelling stations operational in the country and 40 in development in New Zealand and Australia.
The HWR site is part of an ongoing company trial, but it could soon produce enough hydrogen fuel for 30 trucks.
"It’s exciting to witness the inauguration of New Zealand’s first hydrogen stations," Ms Hill said.
"We see this infrastructure as an opportunity where the heavy transport industry can significantly reduce carbon emissions and offer customers a sustainable alternative.
"The launch of these stations in Auckland signals the beginning of a crucial hydrogen network infrastructure, marking a substantial advancement for the sector."
HWR’s site in Lake St, in the Invercargill suburb of Clifton, was planned to be both a hydrogen production and refuelling site.
The hydrogen production site was expected to create 400kg of hydrogen each day, enough to support about 30 dual-fuel trucks.
Ms Hill said refuelling at the site would take about seven minutes per fill.
HWR already had five trucks converted to the new dual-fuel hydrogen technology, or half of the planned 10.
All 10 trucks were expected to be on the road when the Clifton refuelling site became operational later this year, she said.
The results from the dual-fuel trucks had been promising.
"The trial is aiming to confirm the displacement values for hydrogen over diesel, the effectiveness on New Zealand roads, the design of the system and the ability to perform without impacting payload."
The trial trucks were performing as expected with no change to vehicle power, while displacing 26% of the fuel needs when loaded and 34% when unloaded, "and we believe tuning will increase hydrogen use by 5% to 10%", she said.
While the hydrogen infrastructure was being developed in New Zealand, dual-fuel trucks could operate on 100% diesel when hydrogen was not available, she said.
University of Otago chemistry professor Sally Brooker said it was great to see HWR "leading efforts to lower the emissions from heavy trucking in the Deep South".
"As a farmer’s daughter, I’m keen to see a similar approach taken to on-farm heavy vehicles, as our farmers are also keen to reduce emissions, and our international buyers will increasingly demand this," Prof Brooker said.
"This dual-fuel approach HWR are demonstrating in their heavy trucks is a practical way to start doing that."
