Issa brothers planning to set up hydrogen fuel stations

BLACKBURN’S billionaire Issa brothers are believed to be eyeing investment in the new age fuel supply system to support the de-carbonisation efforts of the UK’s haulage industry.

Mohsin and Zuber Issa are planning to set up a chain of hydrogen fuel stations in what will be the first such network in Britain, according to a Times report.

They believe hydrogen lorries can be serviced by seven filling stations at Dover, on the north M25, in the Midlands, and around Bristol, Manchester, Leeds, and Glasgow.

The siblings who co-own Asda and EG Group have also backed the Glasgow-based Hydrogen Vehicle Systems (HVS) - a hydrogen-powered commercial vehicle innovator - with an investment of £30 million.

Earlier this year, Hub2Hub, a consortium comprising HVS, Asda and the self-driving technology firm Fusion Processing, was awarded a £6.6 million grant from the government to develop and deliver an autonomous zero-emission heavy goods vehicle (HGV) for the UK market.

Hub2Hub plans to create a self-driving heavy goods tractor unit which will begin its vehicle trials next year. Asda will support end-user needs as a strategic partner.

Till January end, HVS received £52m in private and government funding, including the investment from the Issa siblings.

HVS has seen its debt restructuring after being rescued from insolvency in 2020 by entrepreneur Jawad Khursheed who believes “a transport revolution is taking place in the UK”.

The company’s thinking is that hydrogen fuel vehicles are better suited than battery-driven ones to achieve the zero-carbon emission goal by 2040.

According to it, electric vehicles require a fairly long time to recharge their heavy batteries which would strain the national power grid. On the other hand, an HVS vehicle can run about 350 miles with a tankful of hydrogen fuel and the refuelling takes around the same time taken to fill a diesel lorry’s tank.

HVS co-founder Pete Clarke who heads its design, said the pace of transition away from conventional lorries has been slow.

“We are currently reducing the number of diesel lorries on the roads at a rate of one percent per year,” he told the Times.

“The industry needs to change and it needs to hurry up. Our goal is to be a disruptor in a very conservative sector where truck design hasn’t changed in decades, and to come to market as soon as possible.”