Key progress during the project includes:
• 29 HRS built in total. Overall, the H2ME initiative has contributed to deploying 37 HRS in 8 countries to date.
• HRS have now dispensed >165t of H2, incl. 121t (69t from H2ME ) in P4, in 77100 refuelling events. 4 HRS have dispensed >5000kg. These stations are in locations where FCEV taxis are deployed, demonstrating the importance of high-use fleet in promoting business case. The project-average HRS availability is currently 96%. Many of the individual HRS are exceeding the availability target of 97%.
• All 339 FCEVs were deployed. Overall, the H2ME initiative has deployed 632 FCEVs in 10 countries to date. FCEVs have reported >16m km driven since 2015 (8.77m in P4) incl. 8.81m km driven for the H2ME1.
• > 50 reports were produced by the cross-cutting WPs. All public deliverables are available on the project website.
• The project has attended a series of events and organised events, incl. roundtables (in Hamburg, Oct 2019 and Online, Nov 2020) and a European rally reaching Hamburg in Oct 2019.
Key findings of the project include:
• Installation of HRS has revealed significant differences in permitting times, despite the commonality of regulations, codes and standards across the EU. The primary origin being the non-uniform approach adopted in centralised countries compared to decentralised countries: opening a station in a new region may means starting the process of engagement with the authorities each time in the later case. As the HRS network expands, permitting times may not fall uniformly as this expansion will involve installation in constrained locations or locations involving complex stakeholder liaison. Future stations will inevitably involve building in less favourable locations, e.g where space is at a premium, or where local authorities have particular requirements.
• The project-average HRS availability is currently 96%, an increase from the 93% at the end of P3. The reliability of individual HRS increases after initial teething problems, reaching a steady state as problems are ironed out. This is a well-known phenomenon in reliability engineering called the bathtub curve. Many of the individual HRS are exceeding the target of 97%. The analysis conducted on downtime reveals that compressors, dispensers and precooling are the main sources of downtime.
• The project average fuel efficiency for FCEVs is 84 km/kgH2 (1.2 kgH2/100 km). Driving style and use case can have a marked effect on efficiency, e.g aggressiveness of the driving style for a given individual and use case.
• An analysis of WTW emissions of vehicles in Denmark, France and Germany has shown that vehicles have lower emissions than conventional vehicles. In comparing emissions to electric vehicles, the use of renewable hydrogen is crucial in obtaining comparable WTW emissions to battery electric equivalents.
• The majority of fleet operators and drivers have reported positive overall experiences with FCEVs, based on the vehicle performance and refuelling time meeting the operational needs. A need for improvement was identified regarding the purchase price, the number of models available, and in some cases restrictions on underground parking. Some fleet operators and drivers have reported dissatisfaction with the limited number of HRS, reflecting the early stage of the commercial roll-out. Although many users have expressed that HRS reliability requires improvement, some fleet operators have noticed steady improvements to the reliability of stations over time, particularly after the initial teething phase.
