Heavy transport operations converting from diesel to green hydrogen power now have fuelling stations in the North Island's economic "golden triangle".
Heavy transport operations converting from diesel to green hydrogen power now have fuelling stations in the North Island's economic "golden triangle".
The supply chain for green hydrogen fuelling of big trucks should achieve the same economy of scale within four years that diesel has in more than 100 years, says the head of Australasia’s first zero-emission green hydrogen refuelling network, just launched in Auckland.
Andrew Clennett, chief executive of Hiringa Energy,said green hydrogen cannot achieve instant parity with the diesel fuel network for heavy transport but because the technology is so advanced, parity is a surprisingly short time away.
Hiringa, with partners fuel supplier Waitomo Group and Australasia’s largest heavy vehicle fleet owner TR Group, on Tuesday opened three green hydrogen stations, with a fourth under way, within the North Island’s economic “golden triangle” of freight movement.
Called Hiringa Refuelling New Zealand, the $25 million network venture is positioned to serve 95 per cent of the heavy freight routes across the North Island, including the triangle between Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga, Clennett said.
Tuesday’s launch by Transport Minister Simeon Brown - the Government loaned $16m to the Hiringa venture - saw refuelling stations opened at Wiri, Te Rapa and Palmerston North, with a fourth station progressing on the new Tauriko SH29 road at Tauranga.
The network opening meant green hydrogen-powered trucks could start operating commercially to start the heavy transport industry’s transition to zero-emission alternatives, said Clennett. While the sector had a vital part in New Zealand’s economy, it was also a significant contributor to national emissions, he said. It’s called “green hydrogen” because it is made from renewable energy.
The refuelling stations will enable hydrogen-powered heavy vehicles, including buses, to refuel in 10 to 20 minutes.
It’s been a week of firsts for the emerging green hydrogen energy sector.
On Monday, Halcyon opened what it said was New Zealand’s first green hydrogen fast refuelling station for heavy vehicles at Wiri, South Auckland.
Green hydrogen company Hiringa Refuelling NZ opened three stations for heavy transport this week within the North Island's economic 'golden triangle'.
A joint venture between Tuaropaki Trust and Obayashi Corporation, Halcyon opened the country’s first green hydrogen production facility at the Mokai geothermal power plant in 2021. Coregas NZ is Halcyon’s refuelling site partner.
Of the Hiringa venture, Clennett said: “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, scaleable and commercially viable manner.
The Hiringa venture received growth capital from investors including Sir Stephen Tindall’s K1W1 and internationals Mitsui and Canada’s Green Impact Partners.
Companies Office records show Hiringa Energy has 20 shareholders. The largest with nearly 41 per cent is Catherine Clennett. K1W1 has 7.8 per cent, Mitsui 5.7 per cent and Andrew Clennett 5.6 per cent.
Waitomo and TR Group are not shareholders. As partners, Waitomo Group supplies the refuelling forecourts and TR Group, the launch fleet of heavy hydrogen-powered trucks, which cost up to $900,000 each. Clennett said TR Group had also received some Government support to help with the early cost of the vehicles.
He said green hydrogen technology was advancing every year and when economic parity with diesel trucks was achieved in three to four years, a commercial tipping point would occur. A hydrogen-powered truck would “be far more commercially viable than buying a new diesel truck”.
“You need to build a network and build that ability for fleets to come on, not just a truck here or there. That will be what helps drive down that cost.”
Green hydrogen currently carried around a 15 per cent premium over the cost of a litre of diesel, he said.
“If we’d been producing during the Ukraine war when diesel prices spiked, our green hydrogen would be cheaper than diesel.”
At the moment green hydrogen sales will be taxed through GST, Clennett said.
Family-owned Waitomo Group is a partner in a new green hydrogen refuelling station network for heavy transport.
“The way we look at it, to decarbonise [by 2050] we need a whole lot of tools in the toolkit. We’re not for a minute suggesting green hydrogen will replace [electric] batteries in vehicles. Our role is to enable heavy transport to be able to fill, and heavy transport is a strong driver because these vehicles need to stay on the road. They need to be earning money on the road.
“They need to be able to fill quickly, they need something [energy source] that enables them to carry their payloads, they need to be able to deliver the distances. This is a technology that really suits that sector.”
Asked why a heavy transport operator would choose green hydrogen over an electric vehicle, Clennett said they would get “a very good bang for their buck”.
Electric battery-powered heavy trucks could not travel the same distances without recharging, and recharging took time, meaning the truck was off the road. Electric-powered heavy trucks “need incredibly substantial charging capacity, like a small town’s worth of charging”.
“It is absolutely crucial that the market is stimulated, and that the market is the decarbonisation driver. Now we’ve activated that market, we need the market to grow.”
Clennett said when the first 5000 green hydrogen trucks were on the road and productivity gains kicked in, a return on investment of $100m to $200m, would become a return of $1.5 billion.
Andrea Fox joined the Herald as a senior business journalist in 2018 and specialises in writing about the dairy industry, agribusiness, exporting and the logistics sector and supply chains.
