The Polish PKN Orlen and the European Climate, Environment and Infrastructure Executive Agency (CINEA) have signed an agreement on non-refundable co-financing for the construction of new public hydrogen refuelling stations, Orlen announced.
The agreement grants the Polish multi-utility energy group 60 million złotych (12.8 million euros) under the EU’s CEF Transport Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility. As a result, new stations will be commissioned in five cities across Poland (Bielsko-Biała, Gorzów Wielkopolski, Kraków, Piła, Warsaw) by mid-2025.
Since June 2022, the first mobile hydrogen refuelling station in Poland has been operating in Kraków. In March this year, a hydrogen refuelling station was launched in Prague’s Barrandov district at the ORLEN Benzina facility. Later this year, new stations are planned in Poznań and Katowice. There are also plans to build a station of this type in Wałbrzych in 2024, Orlen said.
The five new facilities covered by the signed contract will be built as part of the funding granted for the second phase of the ‘Clean Cities – hydrogen mobility in Poland’ project, co-financed by the EU. They will be designed to power public transport buses, passenger cars and trucks. The total value of the project is over 120 million złotych (25.6 million euros) of which around half will be co-financed under the CEF Transport Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility.
There are currently 163 hydrogen refuelling stations in Europe, with another 46 points under construction. The European Association of Vehicle Manufacturers recommended that by 2025, there should be at least 300 hydrogen stations in Europe, and by 2030, a minimum of 1,000.
