Mediaroom

CLEPA has joined a cross-industry coalition raising concerns regarding the discussions in the Council of the European Union on the hydrogen refuelling infrastructure targets under article 6 of the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) proposal.

Over 100 organisations have signed an open letter addressed to the Ministers of Transport, the Ministers of Economy of the EU27, and other policymakers working on AFIR, explaining that the current proposal of the European Commission for the hydrogen infrastructure is insufficient for the expected market uptake of hydrogen powertrains, asking them to increase the ambition of hydrogen infrastructure and avoid diluting or delaying the targets.

A widely available hydrogen refuelling stations (HRS) network, alongside other low-emission refuelling and recharging infrastructure will be essential for a rapid transition of the road transport sector. Hydrogen-fuelled vehicles, i.e., hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) are particularly interesting for customers with preferences for fast refuelling and for whom flexibility is paramount. FCEVs are also attractive for intensive use cases for both individuals and businesses.

Specifically, the letter calls for half of the infrastructure network needed to be built by 2025 and to bring forward the TEN-T (Trans European Transport) Core 2030 target proposed by the European Commission to 2027, with a distance of 100 km between stations. By 2030, the scope of the hydrogen infrastructure should then be expanded to the TEN-T Comprehensive network. Lastly, the letter advocates that by 2030, liquid hydrogen refuelling stations must be deployed every 300 km on the entire TEN-T road network and at least two hydrogen refuelling stations in each of the 424 TEN-T nodes, to provide customers with certainty and basic reliability for users.