Grant Hydrogen in Mobility €28M granted by central government – Fountain Fuel and consortium partners boost hydrogen mobility
Fountain Fuel and consortium partners boost hydrogen mobility
On Dec. 5, 2024, the Hydrogen in Mobility (SWiM) grant was awarded by the Ministry of Infrastructure & Water Management to two consortia linked to Fountain Fuel’s hydrogen refueling stations. Several nationwide partnerships of hydrogen fueling stations and transportation logistics entrepreneurs have received grants. The grant was applied for by 100 companies, 12 gas station operators and c.a. 10-15 vehicle manufacturers.
The grant for the two consortia, for which Fountain Fuel is the leader, is €8.2 Mln. These consortia involve 30 transport logistics partners , including Van Hooft Transport and MAN Truck & Bus. The consortia’s direct CO2 savings from using hydrogen instead of fossil fuels is c.a. 4,000 tons per year.
Maarten Bos, general manager at Van Hooft Transport:
This is a great step in making our fleet more sustainable. Especially for our exceptional transport and our heavy truck-mounted cranes, hydrogen is the solution for zero-emission transport.
Jacobjan Vermeiden, Manager Transport Solutions MAN:
With this grant, we as a truck manufacturer can accelerate the introduction of more hydrogen trucks to the market and further develop the truck.
“Interest in this grant was so strong in 2024 that the application was widely oversubscribed. For 2025, the available subsidy will therefore be increased by IenW to €40 Mln, it was announced by IenW during the National Hydrogen Congress on Dec. 4.”
Hydrogen driving now concrete alternative to BEV
The grant award marks the start of hydrogen as a concrete alternative to battery-electric driving. Beer Kwantes, head of business development at Fountain Fuel:
Companies betting on hydrogen see it as a necessary and inevitable complement to battery-electric solutions.
“Consider heavy transport, longer distances, vans for construction companies and breakdown services and applications where constant deployment is important. We are pleased that the 2025 budget has been increased. In fact, we already have a lot of applications on hold for the upcoming SWiM round.”
Aside from practical uses, construction companies and breakdown services want to offer employees comfort. Stephan Bredewold, director at Fountain Fuel:
Hydrogen-powered vans have more range and only 5 minutes of refueling time. This prevents “loading stress” and irritation. Many an employer, meanwhile, sees this as a fringe benefit and uses it as part of labor market communication.
Solution to increasing grid congestion
In the first phase of making mobility more sustainable, heavy emphasis was placed on battery-electric transport and e-charging. Grid congestion is causing delays in the rollout of the e-charge network, compromising the transition to zero-emission mobility. Hydrogen-powered mobility has thus now become an inevitable alternative.
Fountain Fuel offers both mobility solutions (hydrogen refueling and e-charging). Bredewold:
Hydrogen is desperately needed to avoid putting even more strain on the electricity grid. With one hydrogen refueling station of 350,000 KG/year, about 11,760,000 kWh of grid load can be avoided: that is equal to the power consumption of about 5,000 Dutch households. You see that’s why hydrogen-based solutions are being looked at at a rapid, accelerated pace.
Mobility as accelerator and catalyst of hydrogen economy
For Fountain Fuel, the award of SWiM means the accelerated development of fueling stations 4 through 8. The construction of the XL hydrogen refueling stations Nijmegen and Rotterdam has now started. As of 2025, people nationwide can visit about 25 gas stations. Manufacturers are coming up with mass-produced vehicles, making hydrogen in mobility a viable, affordable and scalable alternative.
The growth of hydrogen in mobility lowers the threshold for hydrogen producers to accelerate investments, which benefits also large-scale deployment of hydrogen for industry or aviation, for example.
READ the latest news shaping the hydrogen market at Hydrogen Central
Grant Hydrogen in Mobility €28M granted by central government – Fountain Fuel and consortium partners boost hydrogen mobility, source
