Austrian supermarket orders 70 hydrogen fuel cell trucks from Hyzon

Hyzon Motors is to supply up to 70 hydrogen fuel cell-powered heavy duty trucks to Austrian supermarket chain MPREIS, the US manufacturer said June 2.

MPREIS is building its own electrolysis facility near Innsbruck using Austrian hydropower to produce renewable hydrogen. It is also building a network of hydrogen refueling stations to serve its 300-store business.

"MPREIS prioritizes sustainable products on the shelves of our stores, so ensuring that those products are transported in an environmentally-friendly manner is not only a logical extension, but central to our corporate initiatives," said Julia Therese Molk, Member of the Board of Directors, MPREIS.

The two companies had also signed a letter of intent to collaborate on the H2Alpin study, which seeks to demonstrate fuel cell electric vehicles are suitable for the demands of alpine mobility, including steep grades and extreme weather conditions.

The first delivery of fuel cell trucks is planned for Q4 2021, with further deliveries over a three-year period.

The first batch is to include tractor/puller and rigid chassis designs built to support refrigeration units. The trucks are expected to be assembled at Hyzon's European facility in the Groningen area of the Netherlands.

MPREIS is building a 4-MW pressurized alkaline electrolyzer in Vols near Innsbruck under the EU-supported Demo4Grid project.

The plant, which is being supplied by IHT of Switzerland, will help regulate the regional electricity network while producing renewable hydrogen.

"The goal is to provide grid balancing services to the transmission system operator APG (primary and secondary balancing services), to participate in TIWAG's intra-day and spot markets to generate cost-competitive hydrogen as well as to use surplus hydro-power energy from a station currently near to the electrolysis plant," according to the EU's Horizon 2020 research program.

On May 29, Hyzon announced an order for 20 hydrogen fuel cell trucks from subsidiaries of Dutch transport companies Jan Bakker Transport and Millenaar & van Schaik.

The vehicles, HyMax 450 tractors built on a class-8 DAF truck chassis, are expected to have up to 520 km per refill with motor power up to 550 kW capacity.