Exolum is going to construct a green hydrogen production plant and refuelling station in the Tees Valley as part of the Tees Valley Hydrogen Vehicle Ecosystem project. The project, which has been awarded £7 million of grant support from the Department for Transport in partnership with Innovate UK under the Tees Valley Hydrogen Transport Hub Competition, is expected to be fully operational in 2025.
The planned project will feature the construction of a water electrolyser and a hydrogen refuelling station at Exolum’s Riverside terminal in Stockton-on-Tees, near to Middlesbrough town centre and at the intersection of the strategic A19 and A66 roads. The electrolyser will produce green hydrogen using renewable electricity and will supply both the refuelling station, with a capacity of 1.5 tonnes per day, and other customers in the region using a “hub and spoke” delivery model.
The project also includes UK fuel cell electric vehicle manufacturer Electra Commercial Vehicles and German manufacturer Quantron AG, in partnership with Novuna Vehicle Solutions, who together will deploy at least 20 fuel cell electric trucks, ranging from 4.2 to 27 tonnes. These manufacturers will receive a total of £5 million under the same funding competition. The vehicles will be used by some of the region’s largest vehicle operators, who will replace existing diesel vehicles, thereby reducing local air pollution and carbon emissions.
Data monitoring and performance evaluation of the hydrogen trucks will be carried out by Teesside University’s School of Engineering Computing and Digital Technologies and Net Zero Industry Innovation Centre, which has extensive experience in the field of hydrogen fuel cells, to inform further development of the hydrogen transport sector.
The Tees Valley Hydrogen Vehicle Ecosystem is a vital first step towards the development of a nationwide network of hydrogen refuelling stations, serving as a model for other regions to deploy similar hydrogen mobility ecosystems. This project will help accelerate the UK’s transition to zero-emission fuel cell vehicles and reduce carbon emissions in line with the UK’s net zero ambition.
In the words of Andrés Suarez, Clean Energies Lead at Exolum: “At Exolum we want to be a relevant player in green hydrogen technology, which is positioning itself as an efficient energy vector to help decarbonise sectors that are difficult to electrify, such as heavy-duty mobility. This project in the UK comes in addition to others we have under development and others already fully implemented, such as the first hydrogen plant for mobility in Madrid, Spain. Thanks to joint collaboration with other pioneering companies, we will be able to offer this new technology to the market to drive the energy transition.”
For more information visit www.exolum.com/en/
