Techno-economic optimization of hydrogen refueling infrastructure for corridor-based heavy-duty freight

Abstract

Hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks represent a promising pathway for decarbonizing long-haul freight, yet large-scale deployment remains constrained by high infrastructure costs and uncertainty surrounding where refueling infrastructure should be located, particularly in developing economies with complex geography. This study presents an integrated techno-economic and optimization framework that couples a physics-based vehicle digital twin, site-specific hydrogen production cost modeling, and mixed-integer linear programming optimization to design cost-effective hydrogen refueling hub networks along strategic freight corridors. The framework explicitly captures real-world topography, traffic conditions, and payload variability to simulate hydrogen demand for a heavy-duty fuel cell truck, and computes location-dependent levelized cost of hydrogen using hybrid renewable–grid production systems. These outputs inform a corridor-level optimization that jointly determines the siting and sizing of refueling hubs while balancing total system cost and spatial accessibility. Applied to a major freight corridor in a mountainous developing-country context, the optimized network supplies 2295 kg of hydrogen per day through eleven hubs with capacities ranging from 50–340 kg d −1, achieving full corridor coverage with maximum spacing consistent with international corridor standards. Relative to diesel operation, the optimized configuration avoids approximately 7036–7204 tCO 2 yr −1 for a fleet of 50 trucks (net of grid carbon contribution), while highlighting key economic sensitivities related to electrolyzer capital costs, discount rates, and electricity tariffs. Beyond the specific application, the proposed framework provides a transferable and policy-relevant blueprint for hydrogen infrastructure planning in emerging economies, enabling evidence-based prioritization of hydrogen investment along high-impact freight routes and supporting the implementation of national decarbonization strategies.