Environmentally Friendly Power Production

2023

Revamping heavy road-based transport to reduce fossil

fuel dependency through electrification

Johan Andersson
Klara Sjöberg
Erik Silfversparre
Abstract
To secure a sustainable future for the coming generations, CO2-emissions must be reduced urgently.
The transport sector accounts for a large part of the emissions worldwide where actions must be
made. Road based freight vehicles do not stand for most emissions; however, this method of
transportation currently lacks proper replacements as well as it probably will never disappear. This
paper aims to present and compare two possible replacements for combustion engines based on
fossil fuels: hydrogen-based fuel cells and electric batteries. The two methods were compared based
on three aspects explained under section 2: Method.

In the current situation, electric trucks might be the best alternative since the infrastructure for cars
is already expanded and can partly be used by trucks. They can also serve as a significant power
reserve for the power system to compensate for fluctuations in power demand. The concept of
hydrogen is relatively new and has a very high potential in some regards such as range and energy
density, where it currently outperforms electric vehicles. It also synergises well with the power
system since hydrogen can be produced during hours of excess electricity, therefore acting as a
regulating mechanism. On the whole, none of the technologies should be neglected since both are
very promising and serve different purposes, as well as a resilient system of transportation should
function in different ways.
Contents
1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 2
1.1 Background ............................................................................................................... 2
1.2 Purpose ..................................................................................................................... 2
2 Method ............................................................................................................................. 4
3 Results ............................................................................................................................. 5
3.1 Range, efficiency and energy density ....................................................................... 5
3.1.1 Range ............................................................................................................... 5
3.1.2 Efficiency .......................................................................................................... 6
3.1.3 Energy density .................................................................................................. 6
3.1.4 Summarising table ............................................................................................ 6
3.1 Infrastructure and technology ................................................................................... 6
3.3 How the technology synergises with power production ........................................... 10
3.3.1 Production of hydrogen ................................................................................... 11
3.3.2 Synergy between power and hydrogen production ......................................... 11
3.3.3 Synergy between power production and electric HDVs................................... 12
4 Discussion ..................................................................................................................... 12
4.1 Range, efficiency and energy density ...................................................................... 12
4.2 Infrastructure ........................................................................................................... 13
4.2.1 Availability of infrastructure ............................................................................. 13
4.2.2 Investment and cost........................................................................................ 14
4.2.3 Use cases of the different technologies .......................................................... 14
4.3 Impact on the power system .................................................................................... 15
4.4 Final conclusion....................................................................................................... 15
References ........................................................................................................................ 16
1 Introduction

1.1 Background
One of the greatest challenges today regarding climate change and sustainable development is to
reduce the dependency on fossil fuels in the energy sector. The transport sector currently accounts
for a quarter of Sweden's energy use [1]. Petroleum products accounted for three-quarters of the
energy consumption in the transport sector in 2020 [2], contributing to nearly a third of Sweden's
total emissions [3].

Sweden aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from domestic transport by 70 procent by 2030
compared to 2010 [4]. The majority of all emissions from the transport sector come from road
traffic, with emissions from passenger cars and heavy-duty vehicles dominating [5]. Emissions from
heavy-duty vehicles account for about one third of the climate emissions from road traffic [6].
Although 90% of international trade in Sweden is transported by sea [7]), domestic and local
deliveries can in reality only be executed by road based vehicles and 475 million tons of goods were
delivered by trucks in Sweden in 2020 [8]. To reduce emissions and decarbonize the sector,
electrification is one of the most important measures.

Electrification can be divided into direct electrification and indirect electrification. Direct
electrification refers to the direct use of electricity as fuel and indirect electrification refers to a fuel
produced by electricity. The electrification of passenger cars has been rapid and battery focused
(BEV). In 2022, electric cars accounted for 33% of new car registrations in Sweden [11] compared to
3% of heavy trucks [12].

Indirect electrification is based on electricity producing hydrogen through electrolysis. The hydrogen
can be used directly or to produce synthetic fuels, electrofuels. Hydrogen as a fuel has been
discussed since the 1980s and manufacturers have invested in its development. Today hydrogen is
not being used on a large scale in the sector but is recognized for its potential in heavy duty vehicle
applications.

1.2 Purpose
This paper aims to discuss the potential in electrifying heavy-duty vehicles both in regards of direct
and indirect electrification. It will compare the two technologies battery and hydrogen in three
areas: technicality, infrastructure and power system. The goal is to determine the most suitable
technology for electrifying heavy-duty vehicles in Sweden.
2 Method
The method used to carry out this paper has been an in-depth study of the subject through scientific
articles, government studies, comparative studies and information and data from manufacturing
companies. To determine the potential in the two technologies, battery and hydrogen, information
has been sourced in regard to three aspects, technicality, infrastructure and power system. The
three aspects will be presented as individual subsections in section 3: Results, and then discussed in
section 4: Discussion. The first aspect that will be discussed is the technical aspect divided into
subsections of range, efficiency and energy density. Three characteristics that are important for the
performance of a heavy duty vehicle. The second aspect to be discussed is infrastructure, including
both present implementations and future solutions. The third and last aspect to be addressed is the
synergy between the two technologies and the power system. Explore the value of hydrogen and
batteries in the power system, while also examining how the technologies integrated in the
transportation sector can impact the system. In the context of the power system, no direct
connection has been established with heavy-duty vehicles, but rather with vehicles in general.

Limitation has been made concerning the type of vehicle represented, to battery electric vehicles
(BEV) and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) when comparing battery and hydrogen technologies.
Other electro fuel solutions have therefore been excluded. Heavy duty vehicles (HDV) represent
trucks in the context of this paper. The geographical point of origin for this paper is Sweden, but
when considering infrastructure, a European perspective has been taken into account.
3 Results

3.1 Technicality
This section will specifically retrieve values on range, efficiency and energy density from the two
different methods. In the end the different values will be used in a table to make comparison and
discussion about the findings easier.

3.1.1 Range
This aspect will determine what range of the two different methods will have when implemented in
HDVs, i.e. how far a truck can travel on a full tank or battery. Some companies have plans for
developing or have already developed HDV “prototypes” using either or both of the methods.

Volvo has developed one variant of each of the two methods, one based on hydrogen and fuel cells
and the other on a pure electric battery. The range of the hydrogen based HDV is said to be 1000km
in one tank (moreover, it will take 15 minutes to fill up), and the battery variant has a range of 300km
[14][15]. Volvo also predicts that at least 50% of all Volvo HDVs sold in Europe in 2030 will be using
fuel cells or batteries [14].

A few examples of other companies that have developed battery driven HDVs are Scania with a range
of 250km and Tesla, who amongst our findings have the best range of them all with 300 miles which
is roughly 480km [16][17]. Ikea, Hyzon and Quantron are three other companies which have
developed hydrogen HDVs with ranges of 400km, 650km and 1500km respectively, where Quantron
with its range of 1500km beats the rest [18][19][20]. In conclusion, hydrogen and fuel cells in HDVs
definitely provide longer range than the equivalent with batteries, where the “worst” hydrogen option
still beats the best battery option. If all values found are summed together respectively, we get an
average range of about 880 km for hydrogen HDVs and 340 km for battery driven HDVs.

3.1.2 Efficiency
The term efficiency explains how much of the energy stored is actually used to power the vehicle. A
fuel cell uses hydrogen to directly produce electricity in order to power the vehicle, so the efficiency
tells how much of the energy is lost in this process. For a fuel cell engine using hydrogen, the
efficiency was found to be around 40-70% according to multiple sources [21][22][23]. The efficiency
of a battery is well known to be exceptionally high, at between 85-95%, which means that this
amount of energy is conserved in the process of converting chemical energy in the battery to
electricity [24]. In other words, the efficiency of batteries is significantly higher than that of
hydrogen-based fuel cells.

3.1.3 Energy density

This unit will be measured in stored energy (Wh) per kilogram. Hydrogen to be used in a fuel cell
contains around 33 600 Wh of energy per kilogram. Batteries on the other hand only contain between
120-260 Wh of energy per kg, depending on the manufacturer. It is also interesting to compare these
values to that of diesel (12000-14000 Wh), since diesel is the most common fuel in HDVs today. Using
the values found in this section, the energy density of hydrogen is calculated to be 130-280 times
bigger than that of batteries, and also three times bigger than the energy density of diesel. [25]

3.1.4 Summarising table

Table 1: Values of range, efficiency and energy density for the two methods.

Average range in HDVs Efficiency Energy density

Hydrogen/fuel cells 880 km 40-70 % 33 600 Wh/kg

Batteries 340 km 85-95 % 120-280 Wh/kg

3.2 Infrastructure and technology

For either of the technologies to be well integrated into the national as well as international
transportation system it is crucial to have refuelling infrastructure widely available throughout Europe
and Sweden. Either choice of technology will require major investments in infrastructure, either in
charging infrastructure or in some type of hydrogen gas-transmission network.

Many big vehicle manufacturers are developing battery driven heavy trucks designed to drive long
distances. The CO2 emissions from the sector of transport is almost evenly split between passenger
vehicles and HDVs. Therefore, a big incentive exists to not only electrify passenger vehicles but also
HDVs. However, to achieve that in an efficient way, it is crucial that charging infrastructure is widely
installed for the electrification process not to stall. Historically there have mainly been two approaches
to solve this problem; electrified roads or fast charging infrastructure. [26]

3.2.1 Charging infrastructure

The infrastructure of choice must be built on key locations where HDVs frequently reside, for example
at terminals or warehouses. However, it is also required to have charging possibilities along the roads.
According to certain laws in the EU, drivers of HDVs have to take at a minimum a 45 minute break for
every 4,5 hours of driving and some manufacturers use this as a guideline in the development of their
vehicles. [26]

3.2.2 Electrical roads

Instead of having dedicated charging stations, an electrical road could be employed. The purpose with
these is that vehicles will be charged at the same time as they drive. This technology will result in less
battery capacity required of the batteries in the vehicles. Electrical roads can be introduced in three
ways, either with charging coils buried under the asphalt, with an overhead line or through an electric
rail in the road. Charging coils under the asphalt require the vehicles to have corresponding coils to be
able to charge, this results in wireless charging that works in a very similar way to that in for example
smartphones. The overhead line works like that of a train and the electrical rail is a physical connection
with a rail in the road. [27]

The category of technology for electrical rails is called conductive charging, and it is in the case of an
electrical road, achieved with a mechanical connection with the rail in the road through an arm that
is connected to the vehicle's power supply. This solution can result in high efficiency power transfer,
the company Elways AB has achieved efficiencies of 85-95%. [28]

3.2.3 Problems and potential difficulties with electrical roads

The cost of electrical roads is estimated to be high, not only the infrastructure required but it will also
lead to disruptions to existing traffic. Since the infrastructure and traffic involves many different
actors, for example governments, private companies and municipalities, they would all need to
cooperate.

For the electrical roads to work efficiently, many different vehicles must be able to charge, however
there is no standardised type of connection that allows the electrical road to function properly in this
regard. Power must be able to be transferred from the grid to the electrical road and lastly to multiple
vehicles. Battery technology has improved significantly, and will probably continue to do so, therefore
HDVs can travel long distances before they need to be recharged. Unlike electrical roads, plug-in
charging systems are quite broadly available in comparison to electric roads and there are also global
standards as well as tried and tested technology. Both aspects have made the need for electrical roads
questionable. [28]

Due to the nature of electricity, when transferring electricity, electromagnetic fields will always
emerge. Depending on the technology choice for the electric roads; mainly if the power transfer is
wireless or wired these magnetic fields will be of varying strength. Strong magnetic fields can
negatively influence the surroundings, for example communications could be disturbed and nature
and people could be negatively impacted. If the choice of technology for power transfer becomes an
electrical rail or induction it will introduce difficulties regarding the mechanical properties of the road
itself. [29]

All the aforementioned factors will result in the need for major investments, if electrical roads are to
be integrated into the transportation and energy infrastructure [E.4]. Electrical roads are a concept
which includes new technology and there has not been any studies or broad applications implemented
yet. [28]

3.2.4 Benefits of electrical roads (ERs)

A great benefit of electrical roads is that traffic can have a smoother operation in comparison to only
battery driven vehicles, there will be no need to stop to charge. It will allow vehicles to drive longer
distances with smaller batteries in comparison with present battery technology. It is estimated that a
battery of 40kWh is enough for a HDV to travel the whole distances of the Swedish part of the road
E6, with the help of electric roads. The implementation of ERs could be of great help for driving long
distances with HDVs. [29]

In the perspective of Sweden, the CO2 emissions from the sector could be reduced by roughly 20% if
the five most trafficked roads were to become electrical roads. However, that implementation would
result in an increased load on the electricity system, the increase is estimated to be at most 4% during
peak hours. If the perspective is expanded to the whole of Europe, the electrification of European
roads could result in a 60% decrease in CO2 emissions from HDVs. [29]

3.2.5 Battery driven HDVs

Currently, China dominates the global production and sales of electrical trucks. The average drive
range of a Chinese made vehicle varies depending on the specific category of vehicle, for a truck it is
300 km and for a bus it is 400 km [30]. The battery size of different vehicles can be observed in table
2.

Tabel 2. Development of battery capacity size in different categories of vehicles [30]

The drive range does not only depend on the battery size, factors such as drivetrain efficiency, weight
of the vehicle, duty cycle, aerodynamics and surrounding temperature are also crucial factors. [30]
There has been great progress in recycling technology, it is estimated that soon 90% of the important
raw materials can be recycled [31].

With a holistic perspective, HDVs with batteries are considerably more efficient than that of one with
hydrogen used as a fuel. The reason behind this is that the production of hydrogen is more energy
intensive than that of pure electricity. Using hydrogen as fuel is much more complex than electricity.
[31]

Some calculations point towards battery driven HDVs will result in a lower total cost of ownership than
a diesel driven one, in the near future. The time that this will happen is sought to be between 2024
and 2026. [32]
3.2.6 Charging infrastructure for battery HDVs
Charging times of a HDV depends on which type of charger that is being used. With the CCS charging
standard, which stands for combined charging system, the time to charge a truck weighing 40 tonnes
is roughly 90 minutes, which will suffice roughly 400 km of drive range. A new charging system called
megawatt charging system, in short MCS, has been developed and is soon ready for commercial use
and will give the same charge in 30-45 minutes. [32]
Approximately 45 percent of the goods that are freighted by road travel less than 300 km in Europe.
It is therefore possible to cover more of these transports with HDVs. If chargers are built in strategically
good locations, the effective range of a HDV can be significantly increased [33].

As previously mentioned, the MCS, is a fast charging system that can reduce charging times quite
significantly from the ones that are currently in use. However, it must be widely installed along the
main routes in Europe for it to be an effective system solution. One can study figure 3 to get an
estimation of how widely available charging infrastructure is in Europe.

Figur 3. Map of charging points in Europe [34]

Each point on the map corresponds to a CCS charging point [34]. It is possible to charge a HDV at a
charging station designed for passenger cars, however there are certain limitations. Usually, it is the
physical layout of the charging stations that limits the possibility to charge, HDVs are simply too large
to fit the parking spaces. Due to passenger cars and HDVs using the same charging standard, currently
CCS2, the main difference is that an HDV will need higher voltages than a normal car. Luckily, most
new charging stations can provide these voltages. But dedicated HDV charging stations are very few,
for example the first HDV charging station was built in Gothenburg in 2021, but there are plans to
build more [35].
3.2.7 Hydrogen for HDVs
Hydrogen trucks are still in the future. Volvo finished their first test of a hydrogen fuel cell in 2022 and
aims towards starting customer field tests in a couple of years. Their preliminary plan is to have a
commercial hydrogen alternative ready in the second half of the decade. Hydrogen fuel cells are
considered a good alternative when long distances must be covered and with limited availability for
charging. The reason being shorter refuelling times and longer drive range [36]. Volvo states that a
hydrogen driven truck could have a range of 1000 km, refuel in less than 15 minutes and the total
weight of the vehicle could reach above 65 tons and the truck's two fuel cells could generate 300 kW
of power. The only emissions from the truck would be water vapor [37].

3.2.8 Hydrogen infrastructure

It is difficult to move hydrogen and because of that the establishment of the required infrastructure
poses a great challenge [36]. Adequate infrastructure is considered important for the technology to
be widely adapted in the system [38]. The current state of hydrogen infrastructure is not sufficient for
the different goals regarding emissions, like the goal at net-zero emissions year 2050. It is lacking in
many ways, the production of hydrogen is insufficient, the storage possibilities, facilities for
distribution and transportation [39].
The main components of a hydrogen infrastructure system are production, storage, transport and use.
One possibility for distribution is either pipelines or shipping. A pipeline system similar to that of gas
would be required [39]. Even if infrastructure for hydrogen would be available there is a large cost
associated with transportation and distribution of hydrogen. If production and usage is geographically
close, the cost of hydrogen would be low [40]. Using an already existing gas transmissions system for
hydrogen could be viable. Fueling stations for hydrogen have to be broadly installed for it to be used
by many different users [39]. Assessments indicate that a pipe transmission system would be the most
cost-effective long-term choice for distribution, assuming that the local demand is adequate both in
size and consistency. Today and for the rest of the decade, distribution and transmission will be
dominated by trucks carrying hydrogen in either liquid or gas form [40].

3.3 How the technology synergises with power production

Sweden’s electricity demand is expected to double by 2045 due to the electrification of industry and
the transportation sector. From today's approximately 140 TWh per year to 280 TWh per year. This
increased demand of electricity will be largely met by wind power.

Wind power production may amount to approximately 100 TWh, which means an installed capacity
of around 30 GW. These fluctuation amplitudes cannot be solely regulated by hydropower which has
a total installed capacity of 16 GW. This means that a flexibility challenge could be twice as large as
the entire controllable installed capacity of hydropower. Even if the wind power system is developing,
increase the number of full load hours which will reduce oscillations. The power production will place
significant demands on flexibility in the electricity system and our ability to store electricity. [41]
The power system of the future is expected to consist of a large portion of intermittent power
production that comes with both storage and flexibility challenges. The impact and value that both
batteries and hydrogen can provide to the power system will therefore now be presented.

3.3.1 Production of hydrogen

To produce hydrogen, one separates compounds into pure hydrogen. Hydrogen can be produced
from fossil fuel, natural gas, biomass or electricity and its environmental impact depends on how it is
produced. The two most common methods are steam-methane reforming and electrolysis. Today,
virtually all hydrogen is produced via steam reforming of fossil fuels and only 4 % of today’s
hydrogen is produced through electrolysis [42].

Electrolysis is the process that splits hydrogen from water using an electric current. By applying a
voltage between a cathode and an anode, hydrogen ions will travel through a membrane and
therefore get separated from the oxygen molecules from where hydrogen gas is extracted. The
process itself does not produce any emissions other than hydrogen and oxygen. When powered by
electricity from renewable sources it's also considered renewable.

Producing hydrogen with electricity results in a loss of 30-40 percent of high value energy [41] Both
the production of hydrogen and the subsequent generation of electricity from hydrogen result in
energy losses resulting in an overall system efficiency of approximately 30 percent. Resulting in
around 70 percent of high-value energy being lost in the process.

3.3.2 Synergy between power and hydrogen production

Indirect electrification with hydrogen provides opportunities despite the low efficiency compared to
direct electrification. Hydrogen can be stored on a large scale, which means that it has the possibility
to contribute to flexibility in electricity use and thus fits well into an electricity system with large
amounts of intermittent electricity production. Hydrogen storage can thus increase the value of
unscheduled electricity generation and help reduce the need to waste electricity. Hydrogen storage
can balance the variability of wind power over a few weeks.

Until 2030, it is estimated that it is mainly industry that will drive the development of hydrogen in
Sweden. Large-scale production and infrastructure for hydrogen can also increase the availability of
hydrogen as a fuel in the transport sector. The industrial actors investing in hydrogen production
also analyse the possibilities to benefit from the variation of the electricity price. If the industrial
process relies on a continuous flow of hydrogen, they also need to invest in some overcapacity in the
electrolysers and complement the plant with a hydrogen storage facility. This results in a higher
investment cost that can be justified by the possibility of avoiding high electricity prices and
redundancy in the hydrogen supply to the process. This, in turn, creates an increased price elasticity
on the electricity market.
3.3.3 Synergy between power production and electric HDVs
Battery storage in the electricity network can be used in different parts: in the transmission system,
in the distribution system, in connection with production or at the consumer's premises. The benefit
of the battery depends on its location and how it is optimised. Batteries are a very fast resource.
Reaction times of 0.1 seconds have been achieved and, compared to synchronous plants, they can
increase their output faster once activated. Peak power can be reached within 0.2 seconds and be
maintained from minutes to hours depending on the size of the battery. Batteries are suited for
short variations, for example to balance daily variations in electricity use or variations from solar
electricity.

In 2022, Sweden produced 170 TWh of electricity and exported 33,5 TWh. If all 5 million passenger
cars were to be run on electricity, 12 TWh more electricity would be used. [43]

One challenge associated with batteries within the energy system pertains to the cost. Their high
energy cost arises from the materials needed for electric charge storage. Presently, the majority of
battery acquisitions serve a primary purpose—typically for utilization in vehicles or solar electric
systems—rather than being viewed primarily as a flexibility resource. Even these batteries can
provide flexibility to the electricity system. [44]

Vehicle to Grid is a technology that allows two-way charging for electric vehicles and therefore the
ability to transfer power back into the grid. Smart charging ensures that the car is charged when
there is plenty of electricity in the grid, and at critical peaks in energy use, it sends energy to the grid
instead [45]. The potential to support the power production using rechargeable vehicles is
dependent on a substantial number. The technology could then be used to stable the balance
between production and consumption or to address capacity shortages.

There are about 4.5 million cars in Sweden, and if all of these were electrified and connected to the
grid at the same time, they could theoretically contribute up to 100 GW of power. In comparison,
Sweden's total available power at the peak load hour was forecast to be 24.9 GW for the end of
2020 [46].
4 Discussion

4.1 Technicality
This section will discuss the findings presented in Table 1, which all values below will refer to. FCEVs
were clearly superior to BEVs regarding range and energy density, whereas BEVs had better efficiency.
On average, the FCEV covers close to three times more distance than the BEV on a full charge/tank.
This is likely a direct consequence of hydrogen’s energy density being at least 120 times higher than
that of batteries. Since the energy density is higher in hydrogen, the HDV can carry much more fuel
and therefore travel longer distances on a single tank.

Since there is such a huge difference between hydrogen and batteries in energy density, one could
wonder how BEVs can even compare to FCEVs regarding range. Firstly, the efficiency of batteries (85-
95%) is significantly higher than that of hydrogen based fuel cells (40-70%). This means that batteries
are superior at conserving the energy stored in the battery and actually using it to power the vehicle.
Secondly, hydrogen is a quite new concept of fuel regarding vehicles. Most existing FCEVs have been
developed very recently, in contrast to BEVs which have been on the market for many years already.
A consequence of this is that BEVs have been tested and used for a longer period of time, therefore
optimising the functionality of the technology and achieving a longer range as a result. Lastly, there is
a quite important subject that has not been properly examined in this report, which is energy density
regarding volume, i.e. energy per volume unit. According to Table 3, the energy density of batteries is
more than 200 times higher than that of hydrogen regarding volume. This heavily reduces the possible
amount of hydrogen that can be stored in a truck. The reason that this metric is so low for hydrogen
is because it is a gas, and therefore the density (kg/m3) is very low. This could be solved by turning the
hydrogen gas into a liquid, however this requires immense pressure in combination with an incredibly
low temperature. The temperature that hydrogen condenses is -253DEGC at atmospheric pressure
[47].

Table 3: Density and energy density based on weight and volume for different energy sources.
4.2 Infrastructure

4.2.1 Availability of infrastructure

In the comparison between hydrogen and different types of electrical charging infrastructure, today
hydrogen infrastructure is almost non-existing. However, the infrastructure dedicated to charge HDVs
is not widely available as of today. As previously mentioned, battery driven HDVs can be charged with
most chargers built for electrical vehicles but the physical space around the charger usually is too small
for an HDV and the charging speed is often considered too slow. Even with this in mind, the access of
charging infrastructure is much more widely available than that for hydrogen. From figure 3 it can be
stated that the availability of normal car chargers is quite good. Since the commercial introduction of
the megawatt charging system will be soon, it is safe to assume that charging infrastructure for HDVs
is much closer in time than that of hydrogen.

4.2.2 Investment and cost

In the case of battery driven HDVs with electricity as fuel, the establishment of the required
infrastructure will vary a lot depending on the choice of technology. It is likely that the establishment
of electrical roads, both with inductive charging as well as an overhead line, will require major
investment which means high cost due to the current state of availability. However, since the vehicles
have batteries of their own not all distances must be covered by these charging solutions. It is likely
that expanding the current charging infrastructure by both making it more accessible for HDVs as well
as building dedicated MCS charging stations is the most cost-effective solution.

The establishment of the required infrastructure for hydrogen will probably require much greater
investments than that of the aforementioned electricity charging solutions, since the current
availability of this infrastructure is non-existent. When the time to build and invest in hydrogen
infrastructure comes, it is important to explore the possibility of using already existing transmission
systems for gas, since it is likely it can be reused. If that is a viable option it will likely reduce the
investment costs quite significantly.

4.2.3 Use cases of the different technologies

Due to the recent advancements in battery technology and assuming that batteries will only get better
and more efficient as the development continues, HDVs with batteries seems like a strong contender
for the fleet of vehicles. Only as of today the average range of a HDV is long enough to cover many of
the transports in Europe. If charging stations are installed at strategic positions throughout Europe,
the effective range of an electric HDV can be greatly increased. With the EU-law that says that a driver
has to take a 45 minute break after 4,5 hours of driving in synergy with the charging speeds of a MCS
charging system, the range of the electrical trucks will be almost unlimited. That is with the assumption
that the truck has not covered more than 300-400 km during these 4,5 hours, which is quite unlikely.
New establishment of these types of charging stations is likely to be greatly favoured due to the
charging stations being of a certain standard. With these aspects in mind the possibility of electrical
HDVs covering almost all transport throughout Europe seems quite likely.
Due to the great need for investments and the corresponding high cost for establishing electrical
roads, the likely wide usages of MCS charging stations in synergy with electrical HDVs, the viability of
electrical roads are deemed low. For electrical roads to work efficiently in the traffic it is required that
vehicles of different types can use it. That poses a great challenge because of many factors, to mention
some are the great difference in physical size of the vehicles, the required voltages to charge and there
has to be some sort of standard solution for the vehicles to connect to the electric road. However, this
does not mean that they are of no use in the future transportation and energy system. For example,
in confined city spaces they could be used to keep the flow of the traffic smooth.

The use of hydrogen as a fuel for HDVs is most likely far into the future. The predicted capabilities of
a hydrogen driven truck are great, but the technology is still early in its development. When the
technology has matured, it will probably be a great solution for vehicles travelling very long distances
with the access to charging stations being severely limited. If the hydrogen technology is deemed
viable for HDVs as well as the corresponding infrastructure, it is likely to be available at the earliest in
the second part of the decade. At that point the MSC charging stations might be so widely available
that the need for hydrogen driven trucks are not required.

4.3 Impact on the power system

The impact that batteries and hydrogen can have on the power system was investigated. This with the
aim to answer the questions regarding both the impact the direct and indirect electrification of the
transport sector would have. But also, to understand the value the two technologies have in the
system.

Producing hydrogen at high electricity peaks is considered a future approach to harnessing the energy
in a variable electricity system. However, due to the high loss obtained in the conversion, it is less
likely that the hydrogen will be converted back to electricity. This makes the markets for hydrogen in
other areas more attractive. We know that there are plans for hydrogen to be used extensively to
produce fossil-free steel and decarbonize other parts of industry. This, in turn, may lead to a positive
trend for hydrogen as a form of energy in the transport sector.
When we talk about the transport industry, it is rather the other way around. The investments that
private individuals make today in electric cars and thus batteries are the driving force behind the
future possibilities of using batteries in the electricity system. Such as creating a market for used
vehicle batteries and enabling the use of V2G technology, thus providing an incentive for battery-
powered HDVs.

The fact that when converting to hydrogen we have an energy loss of at least 30% speaks against
indirect electrification compared to direct electrification. However, it is not the amount of electricity
that is the problem today, if all passenger cars today were to become electric, we would not even use
half of the electricity we export each year. The question is when the electricity is produced, which
brings us to the storage capacity. Batteries compared to hydrogen have a shorter expected storage
time and are suitable as a flexibility resource but not as seasonal storage. Since hydrogen can be
produced when electricity is at its cheapest and then stored for a longer period, it can be considered
likely that even for the transport sector, hydrogen can be cheaper than electricity as an energy carrier
in a vehicle, despite power losses.
Despite the enormous capacity that could be obtained by a huge V2G solution, it is not seen as a
current incentive for HDV to invest in that solution to a greater extent. This is because it would not be
connected to the system to the same extent and would therefore not be the most important aspect
to look at from a cost perspective.

4.4 Final conclusion

If the main goal is making heavy transports free of emissions as fast as possible it is clear that, in the
context of infrastructure, an all-electrical solution is most promising. That is because there is already
a pretty extensive charging system available throughout Europe with more charging points being built.
Dedicated charging solutions for HDVs are very close to being adopted for commercial use. However,
hydrogen should not be excluded in the future since the technology has a lot of potential and there
are possible solutions for building the required infrastructure in a cost-effective way due to the
possibility of reusing already existing gas transmission networks.

Both hydrogen and electricity have the potential to be beneficial to the electrical system. The potential
total battery capacity of all HDVs will be high and could constitute a significant power reserve for the
power system, with the technology vehicle-to-grid, and could be used to compensate for fluctuations
in the demand for power. Hydrogen has the potential to store electricity in a quite efficient way during
long periods of time. It could be a key solution to making renewable power production more
“predictable” and by that making the power system be able to accommodate more intermittent power
production. During peak hours of production, production of hydrogen could be an important factor
for efficient peak shaving. If produced from renewable sources, hydrogen has the potential of creating
very low emissions.

In terms of technical specifications, mainly range and energy density, it is clear that hydrogen has a
profoundly large potential. Despite the potential of hydrogen technology, the power conversion ratio
is in the favour of batteries. Also the energy density of batteries regarding volume was found to be
much greater than that of hydrogen. Even with these things in consideration the range of a hydrogen
truck will be much longer than that of an electrical one. The refuelling time will also be much shorter
than that of an electrical HDV, so the overall flexibility and efficiency will be much higher. However,
the actual viability of a hydrogen truck is still to be determined due to the technology is still at an early
stage.

However, none of the different technologies should be completely excluded. That is because a strong
and resilient system has to be able to function in many different ways, which in the case of distribution
and transportation can be achieved with use of many different technologies. To conclude, pure
electrical solutions are deemed most viable in the near future in all aspects. If the perspective is longer
hydrogen can be considered the more promising technology in terms of drive range, efficiency and
flexibility.
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