From today, the Federal Ministry of Transport (BMV) is funding the establishment of an initial network for refuelling heavy-duty commercial vehicles with hydrogen in Germany. The BMV is allocating a total of 220 million euros for this measure. Project funding is coordinated by NOW GmbH and implemented by Project Management Jülich (PtJ).
At its core is a mixture of funding that combines the establishment of publicly accessible hydrogen refuelling stations with the procurement of commercial vehicles with hydrogen drives. This approach ensures that new refuelling stations have sufficient basic utilisation from the start and that freight forwarding as well as logistics companies have reliable refuelling options. Hydrogen refuelling stations must fulfil the requirements of the European AFIR regulation; up to 50 per cent of eligible expenses are eligible for funding. New N2 and N3 class vehicles with hydrogen-based drives (fuel cells or combustion engines) can be subsidised with up to 80 per cent of eligible additional investment costs against comparable diesel vehicles.
Federal Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder: “Hydrogen plays an important technical, economic and geopolitical role for climate-friendly heavy-duty transport and is a sensible complement to battery-electric drives. That is why we agreed to funding a hydrogen refuelling infrastructure in the coalition agreement as a support to the German automotive industry. Today we are specifically implementing this: we are funding hydrogen refuelling stations and, connected to these stations, hydrogen trucks. In so doing, we eliminate the chicken and the egg problem: truck drivers find reliable refuelling options and the stations themselves are fully utilised right from the start. This is how step by step, a reliable basic network is being established – an important piece of the puzzle for transitioning to climate-friendly drives in heavy-duty transport. This makes it easier for freight forwarding and logistics companies to make the switch.”
Dagmar Fehler, CEO and spokesperson of NOW GmbH: “Hydrogen is a central building block for climate-friendly mobility in heavy-duty transport. Economic efficiency is crucial for market success. With the combined funding, the BMV is creating the preconditions so that companies can be supported via attractive and sustainable investment in infrastructure and vehicles.”
- All information on applying, including templates, necessary documents for the application as well as a checklist can be found on the website of the project management agency.
- Applications may be submitted immediately until 31/05/2026 exclusively via the easy-Online-Portal.
- Email enquiries can be sent to the following address: ptj-NIP-MA@fz-juelich.de.
- An online seminar on the funding package will take place on 17 February at 9:30am. Register here.
- Information from NOW on all current funding calls is available now here.
About NOW GmbH
Since 2008, NOW GmbH has been supporting the federal government’s targets in its climate and industrial policy. The tasks of the federally-owned company include developing, monitoring and evaluating funding programmes about climate-neutral mobility and energy supply. NOW GmbH experts supervise projects in the areas of hydrogen, fuel cells, battery and renewable fuels. They reimagine mobility and fuels for cars, buses, trains, commercial vehicles, ships and airplanes, and support the establishment and further development of charging infrastructure and hydrogen refuelling stations for cars and trucks. More information on NOW can be found here.
