Air Products, a world-leading industrial gases company, received funding from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) to build two high-capacity, publicly accessible, low-carbon H₂ refueling stations (HRS) in Duisburg and Meckenheim. This marks another milestone as the company continues building a European network of H₂ refueling stations that will provide heavy duty and long-range vehicles with low-carbon energy for zero-emission fleets.

The two new stations will be located near Air Products’ current German headquarters in Hattingen, where Air Products has operated for more than 60 years. With the funding received, Air Products will build, own and operate the two high-capacity HRSs capable of fueling a range of vehicles including medium and heavy-duty classes. Supplied with the company’s own H₂, the refueling stations will offer a network of reliable and fast HRSs for trucks in Germany and ultimately support the ramping up of zero-emission fleets.

This NRW funding to support H₂ fueling infrastructure represents an important advancement in the company's ongoing efforts to help its customers reduce global carbon emissions and contribute to a more sustainable future. As the world’s largest H₂ supplier, Air Products has hands-on operating experience with over 250 H₂ fueling station projects in 20 countries, with the company’s technologies used in over 1.5 MM/yr fueling operations. The company is already planning to build large-scale, renewable H₂ production facilities in Europe and is committed to increasing its European network of HRSs. In Germany, these two new fueling stations will join the already announced HRS in Hürth-Knapsack.

Funding for the stations was made available as part of NRW’s H₂ roadmap. NRW has set ambitious goals to decarbonize heavy-duty transportation and has set a target of having 11,000 H₂ fuel cell trucks in the region by 2030. NRW also has set an additional 2030 goal of having 3,800 fuel cell buses for public transportation and 200 H₂ fueling stations.

“This funding brings heavy-duty vehicle ready stations to the region. We are excited to be able to support first-mover truck operators looking to test and integrate H₂ fuel cell trucks into their fleets,” said Jorg Homberg, General Manager for Air Products Germany.

Mona Neubaur, Minister for Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy and Deputy Prime Minister of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia in the Würst II cabinet said, “H₂ is an important component for climate-neutral heavy goods transport in North Rhine-Westphalia. H₂ trucks have long ranges and short refueling times. This will ensure the competitiveness of logistics companies. In order to be able to rely on emission-free drives in heavy goods transport in the future, we must create the conditions now. The development of H₂ infrastructure must be significantly accelerated. We are creating an important incentive for the expansion of the urgently needed filling station network in North Rhine-Westphalia."