Shell and Daimler have agreed to work together to accelerate the uptake of hydrogen-powered heavy-duty trucks in northwest Europe.

Under the agreement, Shell New Energies plans to roll out a hydrogen-refuelling network joining three green hydrogen production hubs at the Port of Rotterdam, Cologne and Hamburg from 2024. Daimler Truck aims to start selling heavy-duty hydrogen fuel-cell trucks in 2025.

The plan aims to “continuously expand the hydrogen powered freight corridor, which will cover 1200 kilometres by 2025, in order to deliver 150 hydrogen refuelling stations and around 5,000 Mercedes-Benz heavy-duty fuel cell trucks by 2030”, the two companies say.

“We want to help our customers lower their emissions by accelerating the speed at which hydrogen trucks become a commercially viable alternative to diesel equivalents,” says Shell CEO Ben van Beurden. “Shell and Daimler Truck intend to work together to support policies that will help to realise this key moment for fuel-cell trucks, and we invite other interested OEMs and industry partners to join us.”