Air Liquide sets up a hydrogen station in the first all-hydrogen warehouse in Europe

Air Liquide has supplied and operates a hydrogen station that recharges the on-site forklifts of Prelocentre, a logistics company based in Saint-Cyr-en-Val (France). This site, in charge of preparing and delivering fruits and vegetables to all Grand Frais stores located West of the Toulouse-Lille axis, is the first European all-hydrogen logistics platform already equipped with 46 forklifts.

The Air Liquide hydrogen station enables to recharge a forklift in 3 minutes only, providing an 8-hour driving range on average. Co-financed by the FCHJU (Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking) public- private partnership as part of the HyLIFT-Europe project, this installation aims to showcase the interest of hydrogen-powered forklifts within warehouses and airports in Europe.

Hydrogen energy offers a sustainable alternative to legacy forklifts and meets key logistics challenges by combining increased flexibility and improved productivity. It provides an extended range for forklifts, a reduced recharging time, and increased safety for forklift operators who no longer have to handle heavy batteries.

This new implementation of hydrogen energy in Europe demonstrates this solution’s competitiveness for forklifts. The use of hydrogen for logistics platforms is already common in the United States and Canada, with over 10,000 forklifts powered with hydrogen to date.