The Alberta Zero Emissions Truck Electrification Collaboration, or AZETEC, is a project focused on developing and testing two long-range hydrogen fuel cell trucks.  One of those trucks was unveiled at the Alberta Motor Transport Association’s Industry Innovations Expo in Edmonton in September.

Tim Bennett, Chairman of AMTA’s board of directors :

“This unique partnership was built about six years ago. In 2019, we had a dream and a vision with a whole bunch of collaborative partners. Fifteen of us together, university professors, industry experts, product experts, coming together as a trucking industry to design something that had never been done before.”

These 64.5-tonne trucks, designed to handle Alberta’s heavy loads and extreme climate, will operate between Calgary and Edmonton, with a range of up to 700 kilometers between refueling. The project aims to reduce emissions while advancing Alberta’s hydrogen economy. The Alberta Motor Transport Association – or AMTA – leads the project, which includes $7.3 million in funding from Emissions Reduction Alberta.

Tim Bennett, Chairman of AMTA’s board of directors :

“Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles that are currently on the market have come out of the states and other marketplaces were too light, had not worked in northern climates. You’re seeing about a 41% reduction in power and capability of what they could do. We came together to build something that had never existed, something that could work in Alberta, buy an Alberta solution, handle the heavy loads, handle the rugged conditions, handle all those different pieces. It was a big grant promised from Emissions Reductions Alberta about a $7.3 million investment to the project. In the total, we’re about 22 million in, and after a six year journey, we’ve got two of them ready to go. They’re going to be tested on Alberta’s roads. We’re going to be able to see what they can do, prove out the world that they can be fueled well, handled on roads safely. We’ve spent the time to train mechanics on how to work and service them. We’ve trained emergency responders on the uniqueness of hydrogen vehicles, not only ours, but others, and teaching them how to respond to incidents, how to make the public safe and more so, how to protect our infrastructure so that they’re ready for bridges, roads and other items.”

Dana Incorporated, Hydrogen Technology & Energy Corporation – or HTEC, Suncor Energy, Emission Reduction Alberta, and other stakeholders like Ballard Power Systems, Trimac Transportation and Bison Transport are involved in the development of the first AZETEC truck. 

HTEC, a Vancouver company, is key to the hydrogen infrastructure for the vehicles.  Working with Suncor, they upgraded the hydrogen supply to meet the stringent fuel cell standards, ensuring 99.999% purity. Once purified, the hydrogen is compressed to 450 bar and transported to refueling stations using mobile trailers. These trailers deliver hydrogen where it’s needed, supporting the truck’s long-range operations between Calgary and Edmonton.

With the hydrogen infrastructure now in place and initial challenges addressed, one of the new focuses of the AZETEC project is data collection and performance assessment. Researchers from the University of Alberta will compare hydrogen trucks to diesel under various conditions with different load capacities.