Green hydrogen technology firm Fusion Fuel has signed a ten-year offtake agreement with London-headquartered Hydrogen Ventures for 30t/yr of hydrogen starting from Q4 this year.

Fusion Fuel plans to supply hydrogen from its projects in the Portuguese municipality of Evora, which are expected to increase capacity to 50t/yr by the end of the year. Hydrogen Ventures plans to use the hydrogen to fuel mobility applications in Portugal.

“We are very excited to announce the execution of this hydrogen purchase agreement with Hydrogen Ventures, the second such contract we have entered into so far this year,” says Pedro Cacorino Dias, head of Portugal for Fusion Fuel. The company’s first offtake agreement was with Portuguese gas utility Dourogas to supply green hydrogen for blending into the natural gas grid, as well as for use in its industrial and mobility segments.

1.5–2pc – Portugal’s 2030 target for hydrogen share of final energy demand

“With our decentralised, distributed approach to hydrogen production, and robust project pipeline in Portugal, Fusion Fuel is well positioned to make green hydrogen accessible to a wide range of stakeholders, particularly for some of the more emergent applications—like mobility—that ascribe the highest value for green hydrogen today,” Dias adds.

Portugal is an early mover in green hydrogen, seeking to leverage strong renewables potential to reduce its dependence on imported oil, gas and coal. The country targets 1.5–2pc of its domestic energy demand to be covered by green hydrogen by 2030, while also exporting volumes to central Europe via the planned 2mn t/yr H2Med pipeline.

In January, Portugal released details of its planned auctions for green hydrogen and biomethane for injection into the gas grid. Gas distribution system operator Floene has recently demonstrated the injection of a 2pc blend of green hydrogen into its existing natural gas network via a newly built hydrogen pipeline, servicing around 80 residential, commercial and industrial locations. Floene plans to increase the injection ratio to 20pc during the two-year pilot, in line with Portugal’s target of 10–15pc hydrogen blending by 2030.

New drive for hydrogen mobility

The EU has recently reached an agreement on its Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation, which will mandate one hydrogen refuelling station per 200km along its core Trans-European Transport Network by end-2030. This is expected to support hydrogen’s penetration within road transport, where it has struggled to make headway.

Hydrogen passenger cars have struggled in comparison to the rollout of electric vehicles, although both have been limited by a lack of available charging or refuelling infrastructure. However, hydrogen has been proposed as an avenue to decarbonise heavy-duty vehicles such as trucks and buses that are harder to electrify owing to the weight and performance of batteries over long distances and cold temperatures.

Hydrogen bus pilots have been launched since the start of the millennium across European cities, including London, Paris, Hamburg and Madrid, although they have been criticised for extremely high running costs—with some cities, such as Montpellier, cancelling orders in favour of battery-electric alternatives.

Hydrogen buses have also seen some traction outside Europe, with pilots run in China, the US and South Korea. Most recently, Colombian oil and gas firm Ecopetrol this week launched a fuel-cell electric bus that will begin service in the second half of this year, supplied by a 23t/yr proton-exchange membrane electrolyser project.

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Author: Polly Martin