CASE STUDY Driving the hydrogen adventure Stakeholders must progress at the same pace towards the finish line. The hydrogen race is under way and a myriad of companies Currently more than 2,400 heavy trucks use this route on a daily across the hydrogen-value chain are working towards the finish basis, resulting in carbon emissions of 137kt of CO equivalent2 line by 2030. But this race is a team event. With everyone’s per year. We at Ascendi decided to lead a hydrogen solution for legs chained together, despite any driving individual will to win, this specific motorway. We’re a relatively small runner in a very we can run only as fast as the slowest in the chain. We need important race, but it’s essential that we too reach the finish line coordination and dexterity to create sufficient pace to meet our on time. goals. Today’s biggest challenge is to create that rhythm. We won’t be racing alone. Ascendi is partnering with other key entities to form a hydrogen ecosystem along the A25 corridor When Brussels put hydrogen at the top of the list of priorities and construct hydrogen refuelling stations at each end of the in its post-Covid recovery plans, we at Ascendi reflected on motorway to fuel its heavy goods vehicles, as well as public our possible contributions. Sunny, windy Portugal’s renewables fleets. The stations will be supplied with hydrogen from a 12MW production capacity is high and rising, making the production of electrolyzers powered entirely by solar energy. green hydrogen a strategic opportunity. Yet for an investment in electrolyzers to be feasible, Portugal needs demand for hydrogen The challenge has many components. Most basically, no fleet to grow in step. of hydrogen-powered trucks is yet in use, despite the multiplicity of vehicle manufacturers extremely active in the hydrogen race. We run motorway networks, and transportation is an important When a range of fuel-cell lorries is available, we will face the application of green hydrogen. Ascendi’s strategic role began to operators’ total-cost-of-ownership challenge. Programmes to emerge, driven in part by growing market pressure to go green fund the cost of truck acquisition are few, but at present they are in the heavy goods transportation sector. Truck manufacturers are necessary to make hydrogen vehicles competitive with diesel. working hard on new vehicles which will hit the market soon. Through our A25 project, Ascendi is part of a pan-European We have pledged to prepare our roads for their arrival. application to the EU called Hy4Good. With the Portuguese government, it seeks co-funding for about 170 hydrogen trucks. One of our motorways, the A25 which crosses Portugal into Spain, is the nation’s main road import-export axis. As a leg of Meanwhile multiple production-cost strides must be made in the European motorway network, it is of strategic importance. hydrogen refining before the total cost of fuel-cell lorry ownership 54