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In the second phase of the 'Hydrogen for transport in Europe' (Hylights) project, the focus was set on the views of the representatives of the municipalities and regions involved in nine leading European demonstration projects and one US demonstration project. A short questionnaire was prepared and distributed and there was therefore the possibility of feedback from seven regions/municipalities which could be documented.
The questionnaire contained 11 questions, structured around two topics:
- experiences and lessons learned,
- recommendations.
When asked about their motives for participating in the demonstration project, most of the answers referred to issues such as improving energy security, climate and environment protection as well as gaining independence from fossil fuels.
Other participants intend to pursue technologies other than hydrogen (e.g. Stockholm: electric hybrid ethanol diesel buses), but most are clearly dedicated to hydrogen and are seeking large-scale hydrogen demonstration projects. The regions/municipalities dedicated to hydrogen technologies have a roadmap or strategy plan for the implementation or are currently working on it.
The expected benefits for the regions/municipalities can be environmental, societal and strategic. The environmental and social aspects cover emission reduction of public transport, operation in restricted areas, sticking to regulations (e.g. EURO 6) and reduction of dependence on imports of fossil fuels. Strategic aspects include gaining expertise in the development of a hydrogen infrastructure as a basis for future large-scale hydrogen demonstration projects.
The availability of sufficient financial resources was seen mostly as the largest hurdle/showstopper by most of the representatives. Also missing were (European) regulations, codes and standards as well as adequate communications. Technical issues seemed to play a subordinate role. Capacity of the refuelling infrastructures as well as driving range of the vehicles were the most important issues.
It was recommended that future demonstration projects should aim to increase the number of vehicles involved, enable the up-scaling of the hydrogen refuelling infrastructure, develop safety regulations, to have long-term goals in mind, improve information exchange and to implement less complex structures with respect to accountability.
The driving range and liquid hydrogen storage systems (for buses) were discussed, as well as the improvement of hydrogen compression technologies, the mitigation of bureaucracy and the implementation of large-scale demonstration projects.
The participating region/municipality representatives asked for framework conditions with respect to safety regulations and standards, political support for hydrogen technologies (as in place for photovoltaic technology and low-emission vehicles).
They proposed the implementation of subsidies for hydrogen production, liquefaction, etc., a higher support quota for demonstration activities and greater financial support in general.
In the course of the 'Hydrogen for transport in Europe' (Hylights) project, key European and US demonstration projects on hydrogen for transport were assessed. Interviews were conducted as an integral part of the assessment. The coordinators of nine leading European demonstration projects and representatives of one US demonstration project were interviewed:
The basis for the interviews was a set of 21 questions structured into four topics:
- general project information,
- experiences from setting up the project,
- results/lessons learned,
- recommendations.
The most important findings of this exercise are the limited availability of vehicles, the necessity to define the project follow-up during the set-up phase and the need for clear responsibilities for the infrastructure installations. Furthermore, an integrated long-term funding scheme is absent as well as vehicle and infrastructure performance data due to few vehicles and/or missing assessment and funding frameworks.
One of the most significant findings was that most projects have experienced problems in obtaining sufficient numbers of vehicles. Early commitment of the vehicle industry and bundling of resources are therefore a prerequisite, especially for future large-scale demonstration projects.
In the case of hydrogen refuelling stations, it has been recommended that only one partner should take over the responsibility for the approval, building and operation of a station in order to lower the complexity of the approval procedure and operations process.
Nearly all projects undertake some kind of project assessment, but the degree of detail differs significantly. Therefore the utilisation of a common tool, the Hylights monitoring and assessment framework, may be a practical approach or at least a robust basis for future projects.
For some projects, the next steps after their finalisation are unclear. For future large-scale demonstration projects it should be clarified at the preparation phase as to how the project fits in the overall strategy towards a mass market rollout.
The hurdles to be overcome during the set-up and operation phase of the projects mentioned by the interviewees include financing - there is no adequate continuous funding available and there were difficulties in the identification of local funding resources. A technological point involved an incident requiring redesign of a refuelling station. Authorisation/regulations, codes and standards issues include difficulties in receiving authorisation for a refuelling station and certification problems for vehicles. Other issues involved long-lasting contract negotiations, lack of hydrogen vehicles, etc.
A suggested future improvement was that financial support should already be available during the project preparation phase as this is very time-consuming and costly. It was also mentioned that funding organisations should be able to adapt funding to changing project budget requirements during the course of a project.
A common approach to publishing status, data, results and 'lessons learned' from future projects should be agreed on and each publicly funded project should be obliged to provide respective information.
The question on synergies with other fields of technology (e.g. with stationary applications or other alternative fuels at the refuelling station) has not been answered homogeneously, so no conclusions can be drawn.
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