HRS supplies the first dedicated hydrogen station for the simultaneous refuelling of 19 buses

HRS, a European designer and manufacturer of hydrogen refuelling stations, announces the laying of the first stone of a hydrogen refueling station in Lorient, ordered in December 2022.

For several years now, Lorient Agglomération, Brittany’s third largest urban conglomeration, has been pursuing a bold energy transition policy to address the global challenges of limiting climate change.

Motivated by a fierce determination to decarbonize its transport system, Lorient Agglomération is aiming to accelerate the decarbonization of the surrounding area and to reduce transport-related greenhouse gas emissions by 78%. With the support of ADEME, the Brittany regional authority and Morbihan Energies, a project to roll out an ecosystem for the production and distribution of green energy in the region has accordingly been launched. By 2030, the entire thermal bus and boat-bus fleet is gradually migrated to low-carbon alternative solutions, some of which will run on hydrogen.

To that end, HyGO, a company combining ENGIE Solutions and the public-private partnership 56 Energies, leader of the mobility limb of the project, has entrusted HRS with the supply and installation of a green hydrogen refueling station due to be commissioned in the fall of 2023.

This station will supply vehicles in fast charge and the 19 hydrogen buses, soon to be deployed by Lorient Agglomération, simultaneously in slow charge, a first for a large capacity station in France.

The first stone was laid on the site of the bus depot on May 9, 2023, with Fabrice Loher, President of Lorient Agglomération, marking the launch of construction work for the bus depot’s distribution site.

The Lorient hydrogen refueling station will be the second in the Morbihan department after the station installed by HRS on the Michelin site in Vannes in 2022.

Hassen Rachedi said, “We are proud to be involved in this bold Lorient Agglomération project alongside leading sector players like ENGIE Solutions and 56 Energies.

This first step towards installing a new HRS hydrogen refueling station, only a few months after the order was placed, once again demonstrates our ability to respond quickly to large-scale hydrogen mobility needs. The simultaneous refueling of 19 buses will constitute a unique infrastructure in France, which we hope to replicate as soon as the opportunity arises.”