Under its Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation, the EU is mandating that hydrogen refueling stations are available along major motorway corridors at intervals of no more than 200 kilometers apart, and all by 2030. There is also additional coverage at designated urban nodes. This will require, according to the assessment, a capital expenditure of USD $2.34 billion (€2.1 billion).
The problem is a chicken and egg scenario. Truck operators are very reluctant to buy hydrogen powered vehicles if they cannot refuel them, and refueling station investors are very reluctant to build them without customers.
South Korea adopted this approach as well. Up to August 2026, South Korea had installed 493 hydrogen refueling pumps, (74.7% of its target of at least 660 by 2030). Hydrogen vehicle registrations were much further behind at 49,220, or 16.4% of the government’s 300,000-vehicle target. Only 258 pumps are commercially active in the first half of 2026, and of these 208 received government support toward operating losses, or 80.6%
Source: Clean Technica Read The Article
PSR Analysis: The South Korean program is apparently only working because of subsidies, and this mirrors what has happened in parts of Europe already (e.g. Poland) where hydrogen buses ran on subsidies but when these ended (as most subsidies do) the bus operators reverted to electric buses. Watch out South Korea and the EU.PSR
Guy Youngs is Forecast & Adoption Lead
