Hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle start up, Hyzon Motors has announced that it has signed a head of agreement with Ark Energy, to supply five hydrogen fuel cell-powered trucks to haul 140 tonne road trains.
Ark Energy sister company, Townsville Logistics, will operate the hydrogen FCEV road trains replacing existing diesel powered equivalents, a move which they claim will reduce CO2 emissions by more than 1400 tons per year.
Ark Energy Corporation, is the Australian subsidiary of Korea Zinc Ltd. the world’s largest silver, lead and zinc producer and the trucks are expected to be fueled by Ark Energy’s own hydrogen refilling station, with hydrogen produced through a solar farm and electrolyzer.
The company says that by generating hydrogen from a renewable energy source, Hyzon and Ark Energy aim to create a green solution for both supply and utilisation, enabling the first refinery to produce green zinc.
This is the second deal to be announced by Hyzon for supply of its ultra-heavy-duty trucks, following the signing of an MOU a few weeks ago with a European customer.
Hyzon claims its 140 tonne class hydrogen truck is the world’s first and the only ultra-heavy-duty hydrogen truck, and says it is winning market momentum.
Ark Energy CEO, Daniel Kim said the company scoured the world for fuel cell trucks.
“We found that Hyzon Motors was the only hydrogen mobility company that could manufacture fuel cells stacks with a sufficient power density to meet its requirements,” said Mr Kim.
“This was including the ultra-heavy payload we need and the fact that it would be built to Australian Design Rules and Hyzon Motors was the only OEM that was interested in supplying the Australian market in the next 18 months,” Mr Kim added.
The companies say that as part of the commitment, Ark Energy has also joined the Hyzon Zero Carbon Alliance as a founding member.
Craig Knight, the CEO of Hyzon explained that the alliance is a consortium of companies that operate along ‘all points of the hydrogen value chain, aligns experience and expertise to accelerate the transition to a zero-emissions reality’.
“Through Ark Energy, Korea Zinc leads this notoriously hard-to-abate sector – demonstrating that decarbonization can happen now,” Craig Knight said.
“This initial order and Ark Energy’s hydrogen hub lays the foundation for an emissions-free future,” Knight added.
Craig Knight, an Australian engineer is the CEO of the company which is now headquartered at Rochester, in up state New York in the USA, with operations in Chicago, Detroit as well as in the Netherlands, Singapore, China and Australia.
Headquartered in Rochester, NY with US operations also in Chicago and Detroit, and international operations in the Netherlands, Singapore, Australia and China,
Hyzon’s claim is that it is a leader in hydrogen mobility and says that it is a pure-play hydrogen mobility company with an exclusive focus on hydrogen in the commercial vehicle market.
The company uses its own proprietary hydrogen fuel cell technology, and aims to supply zero-emission heavy duty trucks and buses to customers around the world.
Ark Energy’s mandate, it claims, is to decarbonise the energy supply of the Korea Zinc group starting with the Sun Metals zinc refinery in Townsville as it aims to become the first refinery in the world to produce green zinc.
Ark Energy says it will leverage and expand on the group’s existing investments across the hydrogen value chain to become what it claims will be the ‘safest and most competitive producer of green hydrogen in the world’ as well as an extreme user and demand creator of hydrogen.
