Provisional agreement reached for AFIR across Europe

LONDON (ICIS)–The European Council and the European Parliament have come to a provisional political agreement surrounding the Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR).

The agreement will allow for more recharging and refuelling stations around Europe to be deployed in the coming years to enable the transport sector to “significantly reduce its carbon footprint” according to the council.

The objectives of the proposed regulation are;

• To ensure that there is a sufficient infrastructure network for recharging or refuelling road vehicles or ships with alternative fuels;
• To provide alternative solutions so that vessels at berth and stationary aircraft do not need to keep their engines running, and
• To achieve full interoperability throughout the European Union (EU) and to make sure that the infrastructure is easy to use.

The agreement will cover both recharging for electric heavy-duty vehicles and hydrogen refuelling, as well as recharging for light electric vehicles and the supply of electricity to ships.

HYDROGEN TRANSPORT DEMAND

The transport sector, which has been deemed difficult to decarbonise, has been identified as one of the areas where hydrogen can be of significant use, especially for heavy-duty vehicles and within the maritime and aviation sectors.

According to data from ICIS Power Horizon Forecast, EU transport sector demand for hydrogen will account for;

• 22TWh (5%) of the 405TWh total hydrogen demand by 2030,
• 52TWh (8%) of the 637TWh total by 2040 and,
• 126TWh (12%) of the 1,095TWh total by 2050.