MaserFrakt, a road haulier from Borlänge, started operating its first (out of two ordered) diesel-turned-hydrogen fuel cell DAF lorry.
The other one, also converted by the Dutch Holthausen Clean Technology, will arrive later this year. Both offer a range of up to 680 kilometres.
The Swedish retailer ICA employed MaserFrakt's first hydrogen truck to transport goods between its regional warehouse in Borlänge and shops in Dalarna, Västmanland, and Gävleborg.
Per Bondemark, MaserFrakt's CEO, commented:
It is highly satisfying that we received our first hydrogen truck. The second will arrive later in the year. But it's just the beginning. Should these two run well, we intend to exchange many of our diesel lorries for hydrogen vehicles.
Apart from the hydrogen trucks, the haulier's fleet also comprises 16 trucks that run on biogas, two light e-trucks, plus two that run on rapeseed oil methyl esters and 16 on hydrotreated vegetable oil.
MaserFrakt intends to become climate-neutral by 2035.
The company has also commissioned a hydrogen tanking station (at the final expense of SEK17.7 million, approx. €1.55m, up from the 2020-envisaged cost of SEK11m, €960k). The Borlänge-located facility went into operation towards the end of February 2024 (around one year later than initially planned). The Climate Leap investment programme of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency supported the set-up.
Frida Jahncke, Fuel Manager at MaserFrakt, explained:
At the start of the project, there were no standards, few people to exchange experience with, and no suppliers in Sweden. The conditions for the construction have also changed during the work.
She furthered:
Due to an explosion at a hydrogen gas filling station in Norway, digging was more extensive than anticipated, which increased the safety work. The licensing authorities needed to gain experience with hydrogen, so it took them much time to wrap their heads around the project.
Jahncke also shared what it took to commission the station (since it was required that the facility must be tested ahead of becoming officially operational by tanking a vehicle):
We contacted the Sandviken Municipality when we heard that they had bought two 350-bar hydrogen buses. Although broken, they could still be refuelled. We fixed a trailer so a bus could be transported to the gas station to finally pressure-test it.
Photo: MaserFrakt