The Spa-Francorchamps circuit recently hosted a major event dedicated to hydrogen in heavy road transport. A day that demonstrated the enormous technological progress, even if the economic and infrastructural challenges remain significant.
On Tuesday, October 14, the Ardennes ring was transformed into a European showcase for hydrogen mobility. This event, organized at the initiative of the TWEED cluster (Technologie Wallonne Energie – Environnement et Développement durable) under the title “Hydrogen Economy & Skills for Heavy Duty Mobility”, brought together the main players in the sector from Wallonia, Germany, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. The aim was clear: to demonstrate that hydrogen technology is operational and to identify remaining obstacles, especially in infrastructure and training.
Words from experts
The day started with a presentation of the most important projects under development in Northwestern Europe: Green WaHyVe in Wallonia, RH2INE in Flanders and the Netherlands, H2Valley Rhein Ruhr in Germany, LuxHyVal and the deployment of hydrogen buses in Luxembourg, and IMAGhYne and the deployment of Hyliko solutions in France. The afternoon was devoted to the most important elements to get the hydrogen market for heavy transport off the ground. Based on the testimony of Colruyt Group, which is testing hydrogen in its fleet, the strategies of logistics companies were discussed, while crucial questions about bottlenecks, the network of gas stations, the costs of trucks and regulations were the subject of specific interventions. Training and the necessary skills were also central with the presentation of the Green SKHy project and the training modules developed by Afpa and Technifutur.
The attack on the Raidillon
Throughout the day, participants were able to witness a major demonstration of hydrogen vehicles, with on- and off-track testing of 7 tractors and trucks, 1 light commercial vehicle and 2 cars deployed for this purpose. B2B networking sessions, organized through the B2match platform, enabled meetings between 200 industry professionals, decision makers and experts – 50% of them from neighboring countries – to debate the future of hydrogen in passenger and freight transport. This energy source is, as is known, not the only solution for the future of the sector, but it is one of the options that must be explored, even if the challenges remain enormous, both in terms of production and storage, distribution, infrastructure, environmental impact, efficiency, safety, regulations and … TCO.
