Who are we, here at Hiringa?
Who are we, here at Hiringa?
Who are we, here at Hiringa?
Who are we, here at Hiringa?
GREEN HYDROGEN REFUELLING NETWORK
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Hiringa green hydrogen refuelling stations represent a huge step towards making New Zealand carbon-free. We have four sites currently under construction, the first operational site will be in Hamilton, where we expect be filling trucks this year.
Hydrogen fuel is best suited to the heavy transport industry, which currently makes up 23% of carbon transport emissions in Aotearoa.
Green hydrogen-powered trucks have zero emissions. For every diesel truck that is taken off the road, we eliminate the equivalent emissions of between 50-150 cars.
What is a hydrogen refuelling station?
It’s essentially a service station for hydrogen powered vehicles. Our green hydrogen refuelling infrastructure has been installed on existing fuel stops across New Zealand to make finding and using them really easy.
The green hydrogen is made and stored onsite and the refuelling method looks similar to how we fill vehicles today. Our green hydrogen refuelling stations use renewable energy to create emissions-free hydrogen fuel.
Is hydrogen safe?
Hydrogen fuel is no different to other fuels in that it needs to be managed properly. While it is highly flammable, it is no more dangerous than traditional fuels or batteries, and does have properties that make it safer.
For example, when hydrogen escapes into the air, it rapidly rises and dissipates quickly. This contrasts to liquid petrol or diesel, which spreads onto other surfaces and spreads fires further.
To refuel hydrogen vehicles, dispensers must be securely fastened to vehicles. If they aren’t, they simply won’t work. This prevents hydrogen fuel from being accidentally sprayed into the air.
Our hydrogen technology is designed with safety at its core.
Why hydrogen?
Green hydrogen is ideally suited to decarbonise the heavy transport industry. In doing so, green hydrogen is a critical piece of New Zealand’s overall carbon-free 2050 mission.
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Hydrogen powered trucks are lighter and can travel further than battery powered equivalents.
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The fuel cells that power hydrogen trucks by converting hydrogen into electricity are 95% recyclable.
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Filling up with hydrogen takes a similar amount of time to diesel.
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Hydrogen powered trucks have a range of 300-600 km depending on load and road conditions.
4
Sites currently
under construction
24
Stations across
New Zealand by 2028
100
Stations throughout
New Zealand beyond 2030
Our hydrogen future
In years to come, Hiringa’s green hydrogen refuelling network will cover all of New Zealand.
Our first four green hydrogen refuelling stations are in Hamilton, Palmerston North, Auckland and Tauranga.
This provides coverage for 95% of the North Island freight routes.
Beyond 2030, a widespread green hydrogen refuelling network could help to decarbonise:
- Aviation
- Marine and shipping
- Construction and off-road equipment
- Materials handling
- Stationary heat and power
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Where does the hydrogen come from?Hydrogen is the most abundant element on the planet. One of the world’s largest sources of hydrogen is water, and that’s what we use to make green hydrogen fuel. Hiringa hydrogen fuel is created on site at refuelling stations. We start with water, and use electrolysis to separate hydrogen molecules from oxygen. This reaction takes place in a unit called an electrolyser. The oxygen is emitted into the air, and the hydrogen (which is loaded with electricity) is stored in containers, ready to be transferred into hydrogen vehicles.
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What’s in the containers?Inside the white containers are the specialist equipment for making, compressing and storing hydrogen gas that has been separated from water.
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Is it gas or liquid?The green hydrogen that fuels vehicles is stored as a gas. It is separated from liquid water by electrolysis.
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How does green hydrogen work as a fuel?When green hydrogen is separated from water, it stores the electricity that is used in the process. The fuel cells in hydrogen vehicles use that electricity to power the vehicle, in a similar way to how a battery powers an electric car.
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Why is hydrogen considered a clean fuel?Because no carbon is emitted at any stage of its use - from producing hydrogen to fuelling vehicles, the only emissions are oxygen and water vapour. Hiringa green hydrogen uses renewable energy sources such as solar and wind to create electricity for electrolysis. This creates green hydrogen gas. Green hydrogen has no carbon whatsoever, so when it’s used to power a vehicle, the only emission is water vapour.
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Is hydrogen dangerous?Our hydrogen fuel is no more dangerous than petrol or batteries. Safety is a highly scrutinised aspect of any combustible fuel, as it should be. All of our technology and infrastructure is designed to surpass rigorous international and local safety standards. Hydrogen is lighter than air, so it dilutes rapidly upwards when released. It quickly dissipates, reducing the risk of a large fire. Liquid fuels such as petrol or diesel spread over other surfaces, which can lead to widespread fires.
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How do hydrogen vehicles work?Hydrogen powered electric vehicles are called FCEVs (fuel cell electric vehicles). The fuel cells convert hydrogen into electricity needed to power the vehicles, with the only emissions being water vapour.
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Can I fill my H70 vehicle at the Hiringa Refuelling Stations?Not yet. Our stations have been initially configured to fill heavy vehicles, which require H35 specification filling, the difference between H35 and H70 being the design pressure of the hydrogen system (where H35 is 35MPa or 5000psi and H70 is 70MPa or 10,000psi). Most modern passenger vehicles use the higher H70 specification because their tanks need to be smaller to fit within the car limits. If this is you then the station will only be able to achieve a ~50% state of charge for your FCEV car. Our stations have been designed to be upgradable to H70 in the future so if you would like to register your interest please do so via enquiries@hiringa.co.nz and we will keep you updated.
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Can I fill my private H35 vehicle at a Hiringa Refuelling Station?Whilst our stations are configured for H35 refuelling we aren't initially setup with a point of sale system for the general public. We have plans to implement this in the future however (initially at H35), so if you are interested please register your interest at equiries@hiringa.co.nz
Want to know more? See other FAQs, or call us on 0800 HYDROGEN
