An ambitious multi-country, multi-partner project will demonstrate that hydrogen can support Europe’s future transport demands has launched.

The project will demonstrate that hydrogen can support Europe’s future transport demands.

The six-year H2ME 2 project brings together 37 partners from across Europe. It will include the deployment and operation of 1,230 fuel cell vehicles, the addition of 20 extra hydrogen-refuelling stations (HRS) to the European network and will test the ability of electrolyser-HRS to help balance the electrical grid.

The project has been developed under the Hydrogen Mobility Europe (H2ME) initiative and is supported by the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) with funding from the European Union Horizon 2020 programme.

The H2ME 2 project takes its name from the Hydrogen Mobility Europe (H2ME) initiative which aims to coordinate European activities and helps support the early roll-out of hydrogen vehicles across Europe.

The H2ME 2 project will complement and build the H2ME 1 initiative, which was announced in September 2015 and sets out plans for 300 fuel cell vehicles and 29 HRS.

Ben Madden, director of Element Energy – one of the partners in H2ME 1 – and project coordinator for H2ME 1 and H2ME 2, said: “Hydrogen Mobility Europe will demonstrate the use of hydrogen in the hands of a wide range of vehicle drivers from across Europe all of whom value the long range, low carbon and low emission driving offered by the technology. Understanding these customers will allow the sector to plan for the accelerated deployment of this important technology.”