Mobile refueling options could boost hydrogen demand: Plug Power

New mobile hydrogen refueling stations from Plug Power aim to fill a gap caused by a wave of closing refueling stations from various companies in recent months, speakers said in a March 5 webinar.

Sales representatives from the company discussed a recently-launched mobile hydrogen refueling stations and how the product could assist in a goal to decarbonize the mobility sector, especially heavy-duty vehicles.

The new product, the "Plug HL-450D-P," is a self-contained cryogenic dispensing station on a trailer, Director of Sales Tim Lowry said. It can deliver a maximum of 450 kg/day of hydrogen and is intended to benefit mass transit and long-haul trucking infrastructure.

(opens in a new tab)

Hydrogen powered heavy-duty industry applications, such as shipping, trucking and mining, are coming online over the next several years, likely driving up hydrogen fuel demand, sales engineering manager Adam Van De Mortel said.

Recent closures of hydrogen fueling stations could also increase demand, speakers said. Portable refueling stations could serve as a solution to the wave of closures, allowing customers to better determine where demand exists, Lowry said.

"[Mobile refueling stations] allow you to dial in where the customer base is going to be," Lowry said. "As our customers develop out, their customer base grows demand, and then that's when the more long-term fixed stations come in, in my opinion."

Companies operating hydrogen fueling stations announced several temporary and permanent closures since October 2023 while citing supply disruptions, including Shell, Iwatani, Messer and True Zero. Most of the stations were used for light-duty fuel cell electric vehicles.

Plug Power recently started a new Georgia liquid hydrogen plant and an existing Tennessee plant, with plans to start a new Louisiana plant in the third quarter. This would bring the company's overall daily production of liquid green hydrogen to 40/mt.

The company is facing a cash shortage after reporting smaller gross margins in Q4 2023 than expected. It is closing in on a $1.6 billion term sheet with the US Department of Energy, executives said on a March 1 earnings call(opens in a new tab).

Station closures and other supply disruptions have contributed to elevated hydrogen pump prices, according to an S&P Global Commodity Insights analysis.

Hydrogen pump prices remain elevated, but they eased off a record high set in January in the latest monthly average price assessment by Platts, part of S&P Global.

The latest assessment on March 4 showed a monthly average at $33.77/kg, representing a 1% decrease from the record high Feb. 1 assessment of $34.11/kg. That assessment was the fifth record high set since Feb. 1, 2023.