en.Wedoany.com Reported - The first hydrogen-powered autonomous heavy truck in the Middle East was officially put into operation in Saudi Arabia recently. The core fuel cell system installed in the truck is independently developed and supplied by Re-Fire Energy Group Co., Ltd., a hydrogen energy enterprise based in Jiading, Shanghai.
Saudi Arabia is located deep in the desert, with summer surface temperatures often exceeding 50°C, and fine sand easily penetrating equipment interiors. This extreme environment imposes extremely high demands on the vehicle's power system in terms of high-temperature resistance, wind and sand resistance, and long endurance. Re-Fire Energy's high-power fuel cell system, through specialized optimization of heat dissipation architecture and dust-proof sealing structure, has achieved the ability to stably output power under high-temperature and sandy conditions, meeting all requirements for long-distance continuous driving and high-intensity heavy-load operations of heavy trucks.
The project team conducted targeted research on two major industry pain points—high-temperature degradation and sand erosion—from laboratory R&D to overseas field debugging. Project leader Zou Hua stated that summer surface temperatures in Saudi Arabia often exceed 50°C, and the team specially optimized the system's heat dissipation architecture and dust-proof sealing structure, enabling the fuel cell system to operate reliably under all-weather desert conditions.
Founded in September 2015, Re-Fire Energy is the first hydrogen energy technology company in the industry to fully achieve independent R&D and mass production of fuel cell systems, stacks, membrane electrodes, and bipolar plates. Its products and technologies have been widely applied in fields such as road transportation, rail transit, construction machinery, power generation, and electric vehicle ultra-fast charging.
This contribution to the commercial deployment of the Middle East's first hydrogen-powered autonomous heavy truck marks progress in Re-Fire Energy's global expansion and reflects the industrial strength of the Jiading hydrogen energy cluster in Shanghai. As a core hub for Shanghai's hydrogen energy industry development, Jiading has gathered a relatively complete upstream and downstream hydrogen energy industry chain, continuously promoting local new energy enterprises to enter the global market.
