H2IT presents its new report on hydrogen refueling stations at the K.EY fair in Rimini

Reducing CO2 emissions by 55% by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2050. With the Green Deal, the European Union has set very ambitious energy transition goals, which require a green transformation of mobility, aiming on alternative fuels such as hydrogen. On this front, Italy has recently taken its first steps, thanks to the approval by MIT of 36 hydrogen refueling station projects throughout the country, for a total investment of 103.5 million euros.

But what are the scenario, the regulatory framework and the technological state of the art of Italian hydrogen mobility with reference to road (heavy and light), rail and port transport? To answer these questions and build a strategic vision on the implementation of the hydrogen refueling station network in Italy, H2IT – Italian Hydrogen Association has released the report “Development of Hydrogen Refueling Stations – Regulatory Barriers and Implementation Scenarios”. The study – published on the occasion of the Key Energy fair in Rimini – analyzes and fine-tunes a series of proposals to overcome the current limiting factors.

Over the past few years, the number of hydrogen-powered means of transport has grown considerably in both road and rail transport. In Europe, the positive trend of 2020 continued also in 2021, with an increase in new registrations of hydrogen vehicles of +22% compared to 2020. Germany stands out, which recorded a +70%, followed by the Netherlands and Switzerland . Globally, the largest producers of hydrogen cars are South Korea and Japan.

In Italy, the lack of an adequate network of filling stations has severely limited the growth of the market. Precisely for this reason, within the 3.64 billion provided for the hydrogen supply chain in the PNRR, 530 million euros are dedicated to supporting the construction of stations for road transport (230 million, 40 stations) and railways (300 million for 10 stations) by 2026.

In particular, for heavy road transport, as specified in the Preliminary Guidelines of the Italian Hydrogen Strategy of the MISE, the goal is to make 2% of the national fleet of long-haul trucks fueled by hydrogen by 2030, thus also paving the way for the development of light hydrogen mobility. In the railway sector, on the other hand, hydrogen can support the goal of making non-electrified lines (about 30%, 4,670 km) independent of fossil fuels. These are targets that require public investment, but also private investment by companies, which however suffer too many setbacks also due to limiting regulations. Therefore, according to H2IT, the need for an enabling regulatory framework that encourages companies to focus on the sector is evident.

Precisely with regard to the complex regulatory framework, the importance of the Alternative fuel infrastructure regulation (AFIR) emerges in the report of the association led by Alberto Dossi, which the EU wants to implement as part of the Fit For 55 package, which provides for rather challenging targets on distribution of filling stations. Among these, for example, a distance of 100 km between one station and another on strategic corridors, which therefore requires Italy to accelerate, compared to other countries that can boast, however, an already widespread network. A regulation in development, the targets of which will however be binding for the Member States.

To date, Italian legislation is particularly stringent, unlike other countries that Italy could align with in order to obtain shorter authorization times and get projects started. Compared to countries such as Germany, which has developed a network of 100 hydrogen refueling stations with a logic of market loss, Italy is therefore behind, but according to H2IT it can transform this situation of…