Challenge

Decarbonising heavy-duty road freight remains one of the most difficult challenges facing the transport and logistics sector. While hydrogen fuel cell technology offers significant potential for long-haul and high-utilisation applications, many countries face a common barrier: the lack of integrated infrastructure, operational capability, technical expertise and regulatory experience needed to deploy hydrogen-powered transport systems at scale.

In Chile, this challenge was particularly significant. The country had limited experience with hydrogen mobility, no operational heavy-duty hydrogen logistics systems, and no established framework for safely supporting hydrogen-powered vehicles throughout their operational lifecycle.

Solution

The HidroHaul Consortium was established to address this gap. The consortium brings together industry, government and research partners to develop and demonstrate the infrastructure, technology transfer and operational frameworks required for hydrogen applications in the logistics sector. Its program focuses on validating hydrogen fuel‑cell trucks in real‑world logistics operations, delivering hydrogen refuelling capability and building local technical and operational expertise. By moving beyond isolated trials to a coordinated, end‑to‑end approach, HidroHaul reduces technical and commercial risk and enables informed, confident uptake of hydrogen for low‑emissions freight in Chile.  

Mining3 supports the consortium through technical leadership, project coordination and the development of frameworks that enable safe and effective hydrogen deployment. This includes techno-economic assessment, infrastructure planning, operational readiness activities, maintenance and safety protocols, stakeholder engagement and knowledge transfer between international technology providers and local industry participants. 

Participating companies:

• Walmart Chile – Principal industry participant and end-user

• Marval – Chilean logistics and trucking company, industry participant

• COPEC – Chilean energy fuel company participating in the consortium

• Ingeniería Eléctrica IEE Ltda (IEE) – Consortium beneficiary and technical partner

• Mining3 – Co‑executor and consortium manager

The project is supported by CORFO as a program funder.