The station manufacturer, HRS, has secured a €3.1 million loan, with the support of the BPI (French International Investment Bank) and several financial and banking partners. This will enable HRS to develop a test centre, designed to test high-capacity stations for heavy-duty mobility in real-life conditions.

At the new plant in Champagnier, near Grenoble, the test area features two refuelling stations powered by green hydrogen. These are the HRS14 (already in service) and an HRS40 station that delivers 1 tonne/day of hydrogen (currently being installed and due to come into service in the first half of 2024). The aim is to prepare for high-capacity refuelling of heavy duty vehicles.

The area is linked to a collaborative research and development centre. This centre enables exchanges with leading industrial partners to optimise station performance and accelerate global deployment. It is currently working on two major projects. The first is RHeaDHy for very high flow refuelling for heavy-duty mobility. Its aim is to reduce refuelling time by a factor of 5, i.e. 10 minutes for a 100 kg tank of H2 at 700 bar. The tests will be carried out at HRS. The second project is H2REF-DEMO for stations with a higher compression capacity (150 kg H2 / hour).

Hassen Rachedi, founder and CEO of HRS, said: “This initiative demonstrates our unwavering commitment to cutting-edge R&D, and I am confident that it will make a significant contribution to shaping the future of large-capacity hydrogen filling stations and accentuating our leadership position.”

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Article written by Laurent Meillaud and translated by Mariem Ben Tili