UK Government invests £200M in green Projects for zero-emission HGVs

This week, the UK Government announced a £200 million investment across four innovative green projects to roll out up to 370 zero-emission HGVs (heavy goods vehicles) and help lead road transport towards net zero. 
HGVs alone contribute 20 percent to all transport emissions across the UK.

Delivered in partnership with Innovate UK, the initiative will also provide around 57 refuelling and electric charging sites.

Four successful zero-emission HGV and infrastructure demonstrator projects will receive a share of the £200 million funding.

• Gridserve will use their Project Electric Freightway to demonstrate up to 140 battery electric HGVs provided by DAF and Volvo, alongside up to 220 chargers, 70 percent of which will be open-access. The company raised £200+ million in funding in 2022.
• Project Zero Emission North (ZEN) Freight will demonstrate up to 70 battery electric and 30 hydrogen fuel HGVs.
• Voltempo, whose eFREIGHT 2030 project will demonstrate up to 100 battery electric HGVs in partnership with Renault Trucks, Scania and DAF. 
• Hydrogen Aggregated Logistics (HyHAUL), led by Protium, will deploy around 30 hydrogen fuel cell HGVs onto the M4.

  Through the funding, the HGV fleet will be serviced by one fixed and two mobile hydrogen refuelling stations. This is part of a bigger ambition to install two additional permanent hydrogen refuelling stations in Magor and Bridgend, alongside additional hydrogen conversion projects along the M4. Protium has previously raised £40.5 million in funding since 2022. 

An additional £2.4 million is additionally unlocked through the second round of the £7 million, three-year Freight Innovation Fund (FIF) to further drive innovation in freight and logistics. Its FIF Accelerator will help up to 10 SMEs develop new ways to make freight greener, more efficient, and more resilient.

Lead image: Protium.