Hydrogen at the pump: refuelling options for construction fleets explained
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on The Construction Index
30 Second Briefing
Hydrogen refuelling for construction sites is advancing through three distinct approaches: GeoPura’s containerised Hydrogen Power Units at Tilbury compress gas from 30bar production up to 300bar in MEGC tube trailers, then use fuel cell generators and high-tolerance WEH/Stäubli nozzles to refuel plant at 350bar or 700bar with diesel-like fill times; ULEMco’s HyTANKa tanker-scale system brings hydrogen to site with twin compressors and a smaller 3.5‑tonne-van refueller for trials and remote locations; and HyKit’s mobile bowser uses a six-tank 750bar cascade system, needing only a small battery and no compressor, to deliver 70–75% fills to 300–350bar machines from a towable trailer or handler-mounted unit.
Technical Brief
- GeoPura produces hydrogen at High Marnham at ~30bar, then boosts to 300bar in MEGC tube trailers for site delivery.
- HPUs at Tilbury double as fuel-cell generators and as a refueller/compressor unit for higher-pressure vehicle tanks.
- Refuelling protocols actively control fill rate by vehicle tank size and ambient temperature to avoid overheat/overpressure.
- High-precision WEH and Stäubli nozzles are specified to maintain leak-tight connections under repeated 300–700bar duty.
- Noise from GeoPura HPUs is low enough to secure planning consents for concerts and film sets where diesel is restricted.
- HyKit’s bowser uses six 750bar tanks on a manifold, selecting tanks sequentially to maximise usable hydrogen per fill.
- Cascade equalisation is managed tank-by-tank (e.g. 300→150bar, then 400→300bar, then 500bar) to step up receiver pressure efficiently.
- ULEMco’s HyTANKa incorporates twin compressors so it can backfill its own storage from lower-pressure supply infrastructure.
- Smaller ULEMco refuellers, transportable in a 3.5‑tonne van, target early-stage trials and remote non-road mobile machinery.
Our Take
GeoPura’s role at the Port of Tilbury and Lower Thames Crossing in Essex links this refuelling technology directly to one of the UK’s first live green hydrogen construction corridors, signalling that mobile systems operating at 300–750 bar are being proven on Tier‑1 civils rather than just in trials.
The 70–75% dispense fraction at 350 bar implies that on remote UK sites, operators will need either frequent MEGC swaps or on‑site compression/production, which aligns with GeoPura’s 1 MW Tilbury Hydrogen Hub plans and suggests a gradual shift from diesel gensets to integrated hydrogen power and fuelling packages.
Ballard Power Systems’ planned £300m acquisition of GeoPura indicates that the UK‑developed High Marnham–Tilbury–site supply chain for hydrogen is being positioned as an exportable model, with construction‑grade refuelling hardware from firms like HyKit and ULEMco likely to be pulled into a broader global OEM ecosystem.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
