Despite major technological development and the start of commercial deployments of the fuel cells and hydrogen technology, the public awareness of FCH technologies has lagged behind this technical progress so far, restricting the appetite of potential customers and risking a lack of support from policymakers. To address this challenge, a consortium of leading experts has come together, combining communication experts, PR of established manufacturers and technology suppliers and world-class experts on the societal benefits of low carbon technologies. Together, the they will deliver HY4ALL, an ambitious programme to drive a step-change in awareness and excitement around fuel cells and hydrogen and deliver clear and consistent messages that resonate with all audiences, from policymakers to the general public. The project will be active in minimum 11 member states, and will be closely linked to the large numbers of existing hydrogen initiatives and demonstrations, maximising its impact and allowing the communication strategy to influence dissemination work beyond the project for lasting effects. The project aims will be delivered through the following activities: • Development of an overarching communication strategy, that will form the basis for all subsequent project activities and will allow the FCH community to speak with ‘one voice’ • Creation of an interactive web portal for FCH technologies, providing a ‘one stop shop’ for visitors seeking information and acting as a single brand and hub for all other dissemination activities • A cross-European "hydrogen for society" roadshow with fuel cell vehicles travelling between cities across the EU. The roadshow will form the focal point for a variety of innovative dissemination activities, public debates, co-hosting of national vehicle and infrastructure launches • A robust assessment of of the macro-economic and societal benefits of FCH technologies, providing fact-based analysis used to convey clear messages

The overall aim of NewBusFuel is to resolve a significant knowledge gap around the technologies and engineering solutions required for the refuelling of a large number of buses at a single bus depot. Bus depot scale refuelling imposes significant new challenges which have not yet been tackled by the hydrogen refuelling sector: • Scale – throughputs in excess of 2,000kg/day (compared to 100kg/day for current passenger car stations) • Ultra-high reliability – to ensure close to 100% available supply for the public transport networks which will rely on hydrogen • Short refuelling window – buses need to be refuelled in a short overnight window, leading to rapid H2 throughput • Footprint – needs to be reduced to fit within busy urban bus depots • Volume of hydrogen storage – which can exceed 10 tonnes per depot and leads to new regulatory and safety constraints A large and pan-European consortium will develop solutions to these challenges. The consortium involves 10 of Europe’s leading hydrogen station providers. These partners will work with 12 bus operators in Europe, each of whom have demonstrated political support for the deployment of hydrogen bus fleets. In each location engineering studies will be produced, by collaborative design teams involving bus operators and industrial HRS experts, each defining the optimal design, hydrogen supply route, commercial arrangements and the practicalities for a hydrogen station capable of providing fuel to a fleet of fuel cell buses (75-260 buses). Public reports will be prepared based on an analysis across the studies, with an aim to provide design guidelines to bus operators considering deploying hydrogen buses, as well as to demonstrate the range of depot fuelling solutions which exist (and their economics) to a wider audience. These results will be disseminated widely to provide confidence to the whole bus sector that this potential barrier to commercialisation of hydrogen bus technology has been overcome.

EMPOWER addresses in full the expected outcome and scope of the HORIZON-CL5-2022-D5-01-08 topic by delivering two flexible, modular, and scalable zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles (ZE HDV) belonging to the VECTO vehicle group 9 (6×2 rigid trucks), with a gross vehicle weight equal or above 40 tons. One vehicle is powered by a Fuel Cell (FC) system and has a driving range of 750 km, while the other is powered by a battery-electric powertrain, and has a driving range of 400 km. Both vehicles will be delivered at TRL 8 by the end of the project (end of 2026) and are expected to approach the market by 2029. Within its technical activities, EMPOWER will: • design, implement and deliver technology bricks: (1) a modular vehicle system architecture, (2) a modular high voltage architecture, (3) a modular low-voltage E/E architecture, (4) a FC system with high reliability and extended operational lifetime with a modular energy storage, (5) a highly efficient e-axle, (6) an optimised thermal- and energy management, (7) an optimised HVAC system featuring CO2 as refrigerant and infrared heating panels, (8) an electrified distributed braking system, (9) digital twin models of the demonstrators, (10) an innovative Human Vehicle Interface for optimised control of the vehicle systems, featuring Vehicle-to-Grid communication and eco-routing, (11) a fleet management system for the integration of ZE HDV into the fleet, (12) an overall LCA and TCO assessment, and (13) the operation of a green hydrogen infrastructure for ZE HDV. • demonstrate the driving range and real-world operation performance of the two ZE HDV in five different long-haul and regional distribution use-cases, including cross-border corridors between different European member states. The modular and scalable EMPOWER technology is transferable to VECTO vehicle groups 4, 5, and 10, and it is designed to achieve the total cost of operation parity against the conventional 2020 baseline diesel truck by 2030, targeting a production volume above 10,000 vehicles/year.