en.Wedoany.com Reported - New Zealand hydrogen fuel company Hiringa, in collaboration with heavy vehicle rental company TR Group, is about to see over a dozen hydrogen fuel cell trucks hit the road. Due to persistently rising diesel prices, market interest in hydrogen fuel cell trucks has reignited.

TR Group Project Manager Grant Doull stated that GVB, based in Rolleston, has completed the conversion of nine diesel trucks to hydrogen fuel cell trucks, with the final eleven hydrogen trucks set to begin arriving at TR's Auckland depot in July 2026. Doull said, "In terms of the current fuel situation, we've certainly seen significant growth recently." The company is in the final stages of contract negotiations to put 12 hydrogen fuel cell trucks into operation.

Previously, the government allocated $6 million from the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund for the purchase of 20 hydrogen fuel cell trucks and loaned $16 million to Hiringa to build four hydrogen refueling stations in Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton, and Palmerston North. Hiringa's compressed gas is produced and stored on-site at the refueling stations, using off-peak renewable energy to produce hydrogen via water electrolysis. TR Group indicates that the current cost per kilometer using renewable energy is lower than diesel.

Hiringa CEO Andrew Clennett stated: "The market is clearly showing much greater interest now. We experienced a fuel crisis due to the war in Ukraine, and now we are facing another crisis that is larger in scale, more severe, and longer lasting."

Regarding technology pathways, Doull pointed out that the batteries in electric trucks can weigh several tons, limiting payload, and long-haul trucks operating around the clock are not easily recharged. The advantage currently offered by hydrogen fuel cell trucks is that the infrastructure is already in place, with four high-speed heavy commercial vehicle hydrogen refueling stations available. Rebecca Peer, co-lead of the Sustainable Energy Research Group at the University of Canterbury, believes heavy transport remains a potential application area for hydrogen fuel cell trucks in New Zealand.

Richard Briggs, Delivery and Partnerships Manager at the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority, stated that hydrogen is three to five times less efficient than battery electric vehicles because it needs to be manufactured, stored, and then converted back into energy. However, scenarios involving long-haul heavy transport, the need for maximum payload, and vehicles operating double shifts remain application areas for hydrogen fuel cell trucks. Transport is New Zealand's second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 18% of total emissions in 2024.

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