Red Diesel Replacement

Enabling off-road applications to transition away from red diesel

In May 2022, the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) announced NanoSUN the winning recipient of its Red Diesel Replacement Competition, awarding over £450,000 in funding to develop a flexible and affordable hydrogen refuelling infrastructure for off-road environments and hydrogen non-road mobile machinery (NRMM).

NanoSUN’s engineering team are now actively developing its Pioneer Mobile Hydrogen Refuelling Station as a low-carbon alternative for off-road applications, which will enable the NRMM sector to cease using red diesel and move to hydrogen as a zero-emission alternative.

Hydrogen fuel can be a direct replacement to red diesel supplying fuel cell or internal combustion engine (ICE) powered applications. Its high energy density can power a variety of non-road mobile machinery. However, the current cohesion of a hydrogen supply chain is a limiting factor for industries, as it is affecting the accessibility and price per kilogram of hydrogen for the end user.

NanoSUN has recognised this issue and has developed its Pioneer as the solution. The Pioneer is a low-cost, mobile hydrogen refuelling station that stores, transports, and dispenses hydrogen from the point of production to the point of use in a single package. This functionality is integrated in a single 20ft container and acts as key component of the hydrogen supply chain. When partnered with hydrogen production and compression players, the Pioneer can provide a full hydrogen ‘plug & play’ operation, with end use prices competitive to white diesel.

The current Pioneer solution has been prototyped for on-road use and on-road hydrogen applications. The BEIS award will fund 70% of the total project costs to develop the existing Pioneer blueprint for off-road environments and for NRMM applications. This will reinforce the operational & safety aspects of the Pioneer for the chosen environment, allowing it to play a crucial role in enabling sectors to transition away from red diesel and towards a sustainable alternative in hydrogen.

Development of this project commenced in March 2022, with the completion date set for February 2023. If Phase one is successful, NanoSUN will progress on to Phase 2 in the mission to demonstrate a full end-to-end integrated solution of a hydrogen infrastructure and hydrogen powered NRMM.

Fine out more about the Pioneer Hydrogen Refuelling Station here or contact us for further information.