Poland Opens Its First Hydrogen Refueling Station

Orlen, the state energy giant, has now opened the location to the public for H2 fueling

State energy giant in Poland, Orlen, has announced the opening of the country’s first ever hydrogen refueling station that is open to the public.

The facility is expected to be the first of 100

Orlen has already stated its strategy for opening a total of 100 hydrogen refueling station locations in Poland and in neighboring countries. It seeks to accomplish this target before the close of 2030.  This is a major component of the company’s decarbonization strategy as it moves away from its core focus on oil, and increasingly steps into alternative clean energy markets.

The new H2 fueling location is located in the Polish city of Poznań.  Technically, it has already been operational, in that it has been used since 2022 by the city’s fleet of 25 H2-powered buses as a part of the Clean Cities program, which is financed in part by the EU. 

That said, the facility has now opened up access to the public for meeting broader H2 needs for buses, trucks, and passenger cars.

A hydrogen refueling station network is expected to be critical to H2’s widespread adoption

“Hydrogen is a safe, alternative source of energy in transport that reduces carbon dioxide emissions in cities,” said Orlen management board member Artur Osuchowski, which has energy transformation oversight.

These vehicles maintain an H2 store in tanks to be combined with O2 from the surrounding air within a fuel cell. This powers an electric motor and results only in water vapor as an emission. 

Back in 2022, when Orlen opened its first hydrogen refueling station, it announced its intention to open nine H2 hubs, which would be located in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia.  These hubs would both produce and distribute H2.

Another location to open before the end of 2024

According to Orlen, it will be opening another hydrogen refueling station location in Katowice, Poland, before the end of this year.  Then, it will start opening locations in other cities such as Warsaw, Gdynia, Kraków, Bielsko-Biała, and others. 

This first phase of the opening of the project’s network will include 16 facilities.  In April 2024, Orlen received €62 million in funds from the European Union to support this rollout.