Taranaki-based green hydrogen developer Hiringa Energy has marked the opening of the country’s first zero-emission green hydrogen refuelling network set to service heavy freight across the North Island.
The initiative is the first of its kind in Australasia and was officially launched with the opening of its refuelling site in Wiri, South Auckland, on April 23.
The network, which sees the production of green hydrogen on site, has been established in partnership with New Zealand fuel supplier Waitomo Group and heavy commercial vehicle rental and lease business TR Group.
Along with the Wiri site, the launch also sees stations opening in Hamilton and Palmerston North. A fourth site is also set to open in Tauranga as part of the new Tauriko SH29 roading infrastructure upgrade.
The initial phase represents a total investment of $50 million to install the stations. Network infrastructure establishment received support from the New Zealand Government via a $16 million loan, growth capital from key investors including Sir Stephen Tindall’s fund K1W1, and international investment from Mitsui & Co Ltd and Green Impact Partners alongside Hiringa Energy.
It creates a green energy network positioned to service 95% of the heavy freight routes across the North Island including the “Golden Triangle” of freight movement between Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga.
The launch event included NZ Post’s Hyundai Xcient fuel cell truck and Auckland Transport’s hydrogen fuel cell bus which are currently in operation.
There are soon expected to be 22 hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) on the road and using the refuelling network.
This includes TR Group signing a revised commercial agreement with US-based hydrogen truck startup Hyzon Motors for the delivery of up to 20 hydrogen fuel cell trucks.
The deal includes $6 million in government co-funding coming from the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund and the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA).
TR Group will own and lease the trucks to several leading logistics companies and their end customers.
Express freight company PBT, Fulton Hogan, Move Logistics Group and Golden Bay Cement have all signalled interest in becoming first adopters of the hydrogen trucks.
The refuelling stations will enable heavy vehicles to refuel with green hydrogen in 10 to 20 minutes.
“Heavy transport plays a vital role in our economy, but it’s also a significant contributor to our national emissions,” Hiringa chief executive Andrew Clennett says.
“As a first-of-its-kind across Australasia and one of the first networks set up globally to service heavy transport, the initiative addresses this major challenge by providing operators with the infrastructure they need to switch to zero-emission transport in an efficient, scalable and commercially viable manner.”
Waitomo Group chief executive Simon Parham says green hydrogen offers a “versatile, alternative solution for long-haul trucking and other heavy transport vehicles as New Zealand begins the switch to future fuel generation”.
“Waitomo has been fuelling Kiwis for more than three generations, so we’ll also be part of the fuel solutions for the future generations.
“Partnering with Hiringa allows us to deliver on that vision by collocating the Hiringa refuelling sites on our forecourts regularly used by heavy transport operators,” Parham says.
TR Group general manager Brendan King says it’s “exciting to enable this groundbreaking initiative by bringing fuel cell truck technology to the NZ market”.
“The technology unlocks a clean alternative for hard-to-abate sectors that are difficult to electrify, where hydrogen meets the intense demands of handling long distances and heavy loads.”
King also praised NZ Post for being the first company to put a hydrogen truck into operation and says he’s looking forward to seeing more companies follow suit.
“Their early adoption and willingness to trial and introduce zero emission technologies to their fleet is highly commendable as without this leadership, our industry doesn’t get the learnings and proof points to move forward at scale.”
The Hyundai Xcient fuel cell truck has been deployed on commercial operations since 2023, having completed more than 70,000kms.
The truck has eliminating the need for an estimated 29,700 litres of diesel which represents 80 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.
NZ Post chief executive David Walsh says that while it has been a success seeing their hydrogen truck demonstrating this technology and travelling more than 350km a day (using slower mobile refuelling) having the heavy-duty refuelling network in place will be instrumental in enabling the use of hydrogen truck on longer distances.
“With rapid refuelling now available this will allow us to operate the hydrogen truck seven days a week, 24 hours a day, with zero emissions.”
The infrastructure will in addition set the stage to provide a fast and reliable source of hydrogen to seed multiple other applications including marine, construction, materials handling, stationary power and most notably, aviation.
Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown was at the launch to cut the ribbon and welcomed the important milestone.
“Hydrogen can play an important role in decarbonising a number of industries and sectors, such as fertiliser and methanol production, and potentially steel production.
“Hydrogen could also have great potential for decarbonising heavy road transport. Road transport carries over 90% of our domestic goods by weight and is a crucial sector for our economy and exports.
“Our Government plans to double the supply of renewable energy which will play an important role in supporting the development of the hydrogen sector.
“As a country with one of the most highly renewable electricity systems in the world already, and significant potential to generate new renewable electricity, we have a clear opportunity for green hydrogen production,” Brown says.
