🚛 Hydrogen in Transport: Theory vs Reality

In recent months, it has often been said that the adoption of hydrogen in transport is progressing more slowly than expected. Discussions typically focus on cost, infrastructure or insufficient demand.

To a certain extent, all of this is true.

👉 At the same time, another question arises: Is the problem really hydrogen itself – or the way projects are designed?

🧩 Let’s Move Beyond Theory

In the previous article, I argued that the problem is not the technology, but implementation.

So let’s look at a project where it actually works:

👉 H2 Green Power & Logistics AG

This company demonstrates that hydrogen in transport – including heavy-duty logistics – can work in practice.

And most importantly:

👉 it works not only technically, but also economically.

Not because the technology is different.

But because the entire project is designed differently.

🔑 What Makes the Difference

The basic principle is surprisingly simple:

👉 Projects are not developed in separate parts. They are designed as an integrated system from the very beginning.

This means that:

  • hydrogen production
  • infrastructure (transport and refuelling)
  • specific applications (vehicles and logistics)
  • the end customer
  • financing

➡️ are all planned and implemented in parallel and as interconnected elements.

⚙️ Technology: Not One Path, but a Mix

Another key difference lies in the approach to hydrogen production.

Many projects today rely on a single solution:

👉 electrolyser + renewable energy sources

However, this approach has its limitations:

  • dependence on weather conditions
  • fluctuating production
  • higher costs

Successful projects therefore take a different approach:

👉 combining multiple technologies

For example:

  • renewable energy sources + electrolysers
  • complemented by hydrogen production from biogenic sources (biomass and waste)

📊 What This Means in Practice

This approach has significant consequences:

✔ stable 24/7 production independent of weather conditions
✔ better utilisation of equipment
✔ lower production costs
✔ more stable hydrogen prices

👉 which ultimately means:

➡️ lower prices at the refuelling station
➡️ better economics for the end customer

💰 Economics Are Not a Coincidence

People often say:

“Hydrogen is expensive.”

👉 Reality is more precise:

Hydrogen is expensive when the project is poorly designed.

If:

  • off-take is not secured
  • infrastructure remains underutilised
  • production is not optimised

then the economics naturally do not work.

🧠 The Missing Role: Who Connects Everything?

And here we come to one of the most underestimated aspects:

👉 project management as a whole

For such projects to work, there must be someone who:

  • connects technology suppliers
  • understands both production and utilisation
  • communicates with customers
  • works with financing and funding mechanisms
  • keeps the entire project together

➡️ from the first idea through to implementation.

🌍 What Can the Czech Republic Learn From This?

We have the technologies.

We have the companies.

We have the know-how.

👉 What is often missing is:

  • comprehensive project design
  • connection of the entire value chain
  • and the courage to move into implementation

🚀 Conclusion

Hydrogen in transport is not a question of “yes or no”.

👉 It is a question of how projects are designed to make them work.

If:

  • production, infrastructure and utilisation are connected
  • a technological mix is applied
  • projects are managed as integrated systems

then:

👉 hydrogen can be not only technically viable, but also economically sustainable.

💧 Hydrogen Reality is not about theory.

👉 It is about what we are actually capable of building.

I focus on the development of hydrogen projects and infrastructure strategies in a European context.

Kristýna Váchalová
Hydrogen Business Development