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Publication of Phase I and Phase II Shared Island Initiative HRS reports
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The Department of Transport in Ireland, and the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland, today publish the Phase I and Phase II study reports as part of a Shared Island Initiative project to support the deployment of hydrogen refuelling stations (HRS) on a cooperative cross-border basis across the island of Ireland.
These reports help to inform a wider ambition to support the development of a strong all-island hydrogen economy in line with Ireland’s National Hydrogen Strategy (2023) and Northern Ireland’s Energy Strategy – Path to Net Zero (2021).
The Phase I report considers the legislative framework for regulating the safety of hydrogen refuelling stations in Ireland. Such considerations also informed the wider policy and regulatory discussion under the National Hydrogen Strategy, and will inform the forthcoming update of the existing National Policy Framework on Alternative Fuels Infrastructure.
The feasibility study on the Dublin-Belfast transport and economic corridor determined that the legislative and policy context, supply chain, technological maturity, and economic case to support a commercial pilot are all sufficiently mature to support deployment. The review identified potentially preferable areas of optimal location in both the Dublin and Belfast urban nodes.
The transport sector accounts for c.16-18% of national GHG emissions in both Ireland and Northern Ireland, with c.95% of transport emissions in Ireland attributed to the combustion of petrol and diesel in land transport. Ireland has committed to reducing its transport emissions by 50% by 2030 (relative to a 2018 baseline).
While direct vehicle electrification is considered to be the most efficient mechanism of decarbonising our vehicle fleets, it is also recognised that we will need to support the transition of our harder-to-abate heavy duty fleets to zero-emission alternatives, where direct electrification may not be feasible or viable for certain use cases. The availability and supply of alternative fuels infrastructure in transport is therefore recognised to be a key support and enabling mechanism to the wider decarbonisation of the sector, however the lack of a sufficiently dense hydrogen refuelling network is a key barrier to wider uptake of zero-emission hydrogen vehicles.
A second driver behind this initiative is the EU’s Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR, Regulation (EU) 2023/1804) which came into full effect on 13 April 2024 and recognises hydrogen as a key alternative fuel with a potential for long-term oil substitution. At present, a lack of hydrogen refuelling stations for road transport has prevented hydrogen-powered vehicles from penetrating the EU market. AFIR aims to tackle this by mandating hydrogen refuelling infrastructure in EU member states and establishing key parameters and constraints around its delivery.
The EU has outlined requirements for minimum infrastructure to be developed by 2030 within each member state and it is expected that by 2030, a network of 5-6 refuelling stations would need to be in operation in Ireland: Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and at an intermediate location on the TEN-T core network.
The feasibility study determined that HRS infrastructure technology has reached sufficient technical maturity to support a commercial pilot. This project will also support the initial deployment of a network of publicly accessible hydrogen refuelling infrastructure on an all-island basis. The Department of Transport and partners in the Department of the Economy in Northern Ireland will now move to Phase III to develop a Preliminary Business Case and procurement strategy for two demonstrator HRS’ along the Dublin – Belfast corridor.
Phase I - Safety regulations of HRS in Ireland and Northern Ireland
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