© H2 Mobility

H2 Mobility will reduce hydrogen prices by 12 to 16 per cent at 15 refueling stations across Germany from 1 October 2026, the operator has confirmed, extending a cost-cutting push that began with an initial round of reductions in June.

A rare reversal in a market of rising costs

The move stands out in a hydrogen refuelling market where prices have generally trended upward in recent years. H2 Mobility said the reductions were made possible by combining green hydrogen supply with revenue from Germany’s greenhouse gas (GHG) quota scheme, a regulatory mechanism that requires fuel suppliers to cut the carbon intensity of transport fuels or pay compensation. Companies that outperform their targets, such as producers of renewable hydrogen, can sell the resulting surplus credits to other distributors — a revenue stream H2 Mobility is now using to subsidise pump prices.

Which stations are affected and by how much

The October price cuts apply to 15 stations: Bayreuth, Düren, Düsseldorf-Oerschbachstraße, Erlangen, Frechen, Fürth, Herten, Cologne/Bonn Airport, Leverkusen, Munich, Saarbrücken, Sindelfingen, Stuttgart Airport, Weiterstadt and Wesseling. These sites were originally built for hydrogen-powered passenger cars but have since been technically upgraded to serve buses and trucks. According to H2 Mobility’s H2.Live network map, hydrogen at these locations currently costs between €11.27 and €15.75 per kilogram, a range the new discounts will lower.

Second step after June’s initial cut

The October reduction follows a first round on 1 June, when H2 Mobility cut prices by roughly 10 per cent at five higher-capacity stations in Mannheim, Heidelberg, Frankenthal, Ludwigshafen and Düsseldorf-Höherweg. That earlier cut was likewise attributed to green hydrogen supply and GHG quota revenue, alongside economies of scale at the newer, larger sites.

Company statement

“Following the first price reduction in June, the use of green hydrogen in combination with GHG quota trading now enables us to lower prices at 15 additional stations, thereby increasing the attractiveness of green hydrogen in transport,” said Martin Jüngel, Managing Director and CFO of H2 Mobility. “It is important that the impact reaches the market and that transport operators and the logistics sector, in particular, benefit from lower operating costs.”

From grey to green hydrogen

H2 Mobility’s network has historically relied predominantly on grey hydrogen, produced from natural gas without carbon capture. The company has said it aims to supply exclusively green hydrogen — produced via electrolyzers using renewable electricity and certified as a renewable fuel of non-biological origin (RFNBO) under the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED III) — across its stations by 2028.

Policy backdrop and competitive pressure

Air Liquide has separately told trade press that Germany’s combination of GHG quota incentives, truck and station funding, and toll exemptions could bring RFNBO-fuelled trucking closer to cost parity with diesel. That assessment adds weight to H2 Mobility’s argument that quota-linked revenue is now a viable lever for cutting retail hydrogen prices, rather than merely offsetting production costs.

Implications for the market

The price cuts illustrate how a single regulatory instrument — GHG quota trading — is beginning to alter the economics of hydrogen mobility in Germany, at a time when the sector remains dependent on subsidy and policy support rather than unaided cost competitiveness. That dependency carries risk: a leaked EU proposal has floated a bloc-wide, non-binding hydrogen consumption target for the period after 2030 in place of existing binding RFNBO mandates. Should Brussels dilute those mandates, the quota-driven revenue underpinning Germany’s price cuts, and the broader case for green hydrogen in heavy transport, would face a materially different set of incentives.