VHyTTA project kicks off

Co-funded by the European Union and supported by the Clean Hydrogen Partnership with a total budget of € 8M, VHyTTA will develop and demonstrate two multipurpose and flexible refuelling station concepts -one fixed and one mobile- for both compressed gaseous hydrogen (cGH₂) and liquid hydrogen (LH₂), tailored to the needs of the aviation, maritime, and railroad transport sectors. With this, the project addresses key obstacles to hydrogen adoption, including the substantial energy and CAPEX investment required for electrolysis, compression, storage, transportation, and distribution – factors that make hydrogen less competitive and costly compared to diesel and kerosene.

The Kick-Off meeting provided the opportunity for project partners to define the initial steps for achieving their ambitious targets. Over the next 48 months, they will work toward the following key objectives:

• Develop, build, and operate a new concept of a fixed cGH₂ station for heavy-duty vehicles, containers, and airport ground fleets
• Design and construct a mobile LH₂ refueller serving aircraft and ships
• Develop and validate digital models of the stations to support their performance
• Demonstrate the technologies at TRL7
• Optimize logistics and value chain integration for hydrogen hubs at airports

With these innovations, VHyTTA expects to contribute to the strategic objective of achieving 4 GW of hydrogen production and distribution capacity and deploying more than 100 hydrogen refuelling stations across Europe by 2030. In addition, project forecasts indicate that by 2035, 1,504 routes across Europe could adopt LH₂ powertrains, potentially reducing emissions by 33.6 million tonnes of CO₂.

The VHyTTA consortium is strongly committed to advancing these efforts – setting new standards for sustainable mobility and accelerating Europe’s transition to climate-neutral transport.

Contribution of Groningen Airport Eelde to VHyTTA

Within VHyTTA, Groningen Airport Eelde serves as a demonstration site for the mobile LH₂ refueller. At the airport, we will carry out a refuelling operation to gain hands on experience with the safe and efficient use of liquid hydrogen. The demonstration is supported by additional research conducted by project partners, including the University of Groningen. Using Groningen Airport Eelde as its reference case, the University of Groningen will perform an economic and environmental impact assessment of future LH2 flights and map the required infrastructure and design choices. Groningen Airport Eelde and the Airport Advisory Group we lead, consisting of European airports, provide the necessary operational input and validate the results, ensuring that the outcomes are also applicable to other airports.

_{The project is supported by the Clean Hydrogen Partnership and its members [grant number: 101192497]. Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or Clean Hydrogen Partnership. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.}