Verne and ARTA to develop rapid, high-density hydrogen refueling solutions for heavy-duty trucks

November 2023

The companies will develop and demonstrate cryo-compressed hydrogen nozzles and receptacles for heavy-duty truck refueling stations


San Francisco, California and Diez, Germany. Verne, a hydrogen technology platform startup, and ARTA, a global market leader in coupling and connector system solutions for over 50 years, have signed a collaboration agreement to jointly develop and demonstrate coupling and receptacles for cryo-compressed hydrogen (CcH2) truck refueling stations. This work will help ensure the required high-performance equipment is available for the cryo-compressed hydrogen trucking refueling network.

“ARTA’s team has extensive experience with cryogenic and pressurized hydrogen systems, a unique capability,” said David Jaramillo, CTO & Co-Founder of Verne. “Their proven track record and agile development capabilities make ARTA a great collaborator to develop the technology the market needs.”

Cryo-compressed hydrogen offers densities that are superior to liquid hydrogen (LH2) systems while avoiding boil-off losses. At a storage pressure less than 400 bar, CcH2 storage systems can reach hydrogen densities of 73 g/L, a 35% improvement relative to LH2 storage systems (54 g/L with minimal ullage) and an 87% improvement relative to 700 bar storage systems. This fundamental density benefit unlocks diesel-like performance across the heavy-duty sector, starting with Class 8 trucks. Verne has demonstrated multiple cryo-compressed hydrogen storage systems with various third parties, including commercial entities and a United States National Laboratory.

“Since our first contact, our cooperation with Verne has been inspiring and energizing to ARTA. We are happy to support Verne’s path towards a carbon-neutral transportation industry with our long-term experience in cryogenic and high-pressure coupling technology,” said Pascal von Keitz, Project Manager of H2 and Managing Director of ARTA. “The transformation of industries into a sustainable age must take place now. Verne and ARTA are a good match to quickly implement hydrogen solutions for the transport sector.”

In addition to achieving high-density on-board storage, Verne is now working with ARTA to demonstrate rapid refueling. The companies are collaborating to develop high-flow refueling coupling and receptacles for truck stations. The developed technology will allow for refueling a 500+ mile truck in less than 10 minutes.  The companies will carry out demonstrations starting in early 2024.


About ARTA

Where critical gases or liquids are handled in a safe way, ARTA has been the industry’s partner for couplings and transfer systems since 1964. Starting with land-based logistics applications, ARTA’s portfolio has grown to cover couplings for all applications of global supply chains: From the sea to the sky, from cryogenics to high pressure. ARTA is a family-owned private company based in Diez, Germany. With subsidiaries and service partners all over the world, ARTA supplies renowned global players with reliable coupling systems for all kind of applications.

Company contact:
Pascal von Keitz, Managing Director of ARTA; info@arta.com


About Verne

Verne was founded in 2020 to develop the required high-density hydrogen platform for heavy-duty transportation. Verne’s platform can unlock zero-emission operations in sectors including trucking, mining, aviation, port vehicles and hydrogen distribution. Verne is financially supported by leading commercial entities, including Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Caterpillar Venture Capital, and Collaborative Fund. Verne is also supported by Breakthrough Energy Fellows, the Department of Energy’s ARPA-E, and other agencies. For more information, please visit verneh2.com

Company contact:
David Jaramillo, CTO & Co-Founder; contact@verneh2.com

Related News

Governor's Press Office

Verne announces new Pennsylvania manufacturing facility with Governor Shapiro

July 2025

Muncy, PA, July 10, 2025 - Governor Shapiro announced the establishment of Verne’s new manufacturing facility in Muncy, PA. Verne will produce storage vessels for efficiently transporting hydrogen and other low-carbon molecules. The project will create 61 new jobs in Lycoming County and establish a domestic supply of critical energy storage infrastructure.

Energy demand is growing rapidly in sectors including data centers, robotics and advanced manufacturing. The nation’s aging electricity grid is struggling to meet the growth in energy demand and is constraining the growth of businesses in these key sectors. Verne has developed energy solutions to flexibly and efficiently deliver power to data centers, construction sites, ports, airports and other critical sectors. Establishing this manufacturing facility will allow Verne to scale up our production and deploy energy solutions that keep these critical industries running.

“After conducting a nationwide search, we determined that North Central Pennsylvania was the perfect place to establish our manufacturing footprint. The proximity to key partners in the region was a crucial factor, as it will allow Verne to leverage their expertise to optimize our supply chain and manufacturing processes,” said Ted McKlveen, Verne Co-founder & CEO. “This facility will accelerate our impact in delivering energy to power critical industries that are currently not being served by our nation’s electricity grid.”

Verne received $1.27 million in support from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: “This investment in Verne is another example of how the Shapiro Administration is diversifying our energy sector while fostering innovation and supporting the Commonwealth’s vital manufacturing industry,” said DCED Secretary Rick Siger. “It also shows what Governor Shapiro’s 10-year Economic Development Strategy is achieving — firmly establishing Pennsylvania’s status as a leader in innovation, economic development, and job creation.”

Verne is thankful for the support of Governor Shapiro, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED), and the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce for this development.

Read more: https://dced.pa.gov/newsroom/governor-shapiro-announces-4-5-million-investment-from-energy-storage-innovator-verne-inc-to-build-its-first-manufacturing-facility-in-lycoming-county-creating-61-jobs-and-growing-pennsylvania/

 

About Verne

Verne’s mission is to decarbonize the most challenging sectors of the economy. Verne provides modern and rapidly deployable power solutions to critical sectors including data centers, construction sites, ports, and airports. Verne is supported by Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Breakthrough Energy Fellows, Caterpillar VC, NextEra Energy Resources, United Airlines Ventures Sustainable Flight Fund, Collaborative Fund, ARPA-E, The U.S. Army, and other leading organizations.

Verne begins offering zero-emission on-site power generation to customers

May 2025

San Francisco, CA, May 30, 2025 — Verne is now offering zero-emission off-grid power to customers. Customers are increasingly seeking quiet, clean on-site power generation in applications including ports, EV charging, construction and data centers. Verne has partnered with a leading equipment rental company that supplies diesel generators to meet customers’ grid-independent power needs and has recently added hydrogen power generators to their equipment fleet. Verne will provide hydrogen fuel and fuel storage to create an integrated hydrogen-to-power solution available to customers nationwide.

In one of Verne’s recent deployments, the company demonstrated the integrated hydrogen-to-power offering in Southern California for customers in construction and EV charging. Verne delivered hydrogen to hydrogen fuel cell generators developed by EODev. The demonstration showcased the ease and efficiency of zero-emission, quiet on-site power generation with hydrogen generators. The combined offering is the lowest cost solution for customers seeking rapid, permit-friendly power.

“Verne was founded to provide reliable energy solutions to the most critical sectors of the economy,” said Ted McKlveen, Co-founder & CEO of Verne. “Working with established equipment rental partners will help us reach customers seeking clean, efficient off-grid power and allow us to accelerate deployment of our solutions in the most critical, most demanding sectors of the economy.”

Customers interested accessing zero-emission on-site power generation can reach out to Verne at contact@verne-power.com.

About Verne

Verne’s mission is to decarbonize the most challenging sectors of the economy. Verne provides zero-emission on-site power to critical sectors including construction, ports, EV fleets and data centers. Verne is supported by Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Breakthrough Energy Fellows, Caterpillar VC, NextEra Energy Resources, United Airlines Ventures Sustainable Flight Fund, Collaborative Fund, ARPA-E, The U.S. Army, and other leading organizations.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

LLNL and Verne demonstrate highly efficient hydrogen densification pathway with less required energy

March 2025

Livermore, California, March 18, 2025 — Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Verne have demonstrated a novel pathway for creating high-density hydrogen through a research program funded by Department of Energy’s ARPA-E.

The demonstration validated that it is possible to efficiently reach cryo-compressed hydrogen conditions with liquid hydrogen-like density directly from a source of gaseous hydrogen — substantially reducing the energy input required compared to methods that rely on energy-intensive hydrogen liquefaction.

The energy density of hydrogen on a mass basis is extremely high. However, at ambient conditions gaseous hydrogen requires more volume to store an equivalent amount of energy as competing forms of energy storage.

To reduce the storage volume required, densification of hydrogen is typically accomplished using gas compression or liquefaction. This work demonstrated a pathway that uses both compression and cooling at the same time, each to a lesser degree than when used independently.

So far, the hydrogen supply chain has been hindered by a trade-off between compressed gaseous hydrogen — which is cheap to produce, but low in density — and liquid hydrogen— which is high in density, but expensive to densify (via liquefaction). This trade-off has led to expensive distribution costs that have limited the adoption of hydrogen solutions.

This demonstration validates that cryo-compressed hydrogen can break this trade-off by creating high-density hydrogen without requiring the significant energy inputs required of hydrogen liquefaction.

Enabling end-use applications of hydrogen

Annual U.S. power consumption is projected to grow by 800 terrawatt hours by 2030, with data centers and electric vehicles  driving 77 percent of this new demand, according to the Boston Consulting Group. Customers from a variety of sectors are seeking increased electrical power and are not currently being served by the grid.

Hydrogen can be delivered to these sectors and converted to electricity on-site through a fuel cell, engine or turbine. However, the cost of existing hydrogen distribution technologies has limited adoption.

“This demonstration confirms that cryo-compressed hydrogen can break the current trade-off between density and cost,” said Ted McKlveen, co-founder & CEO of Verne. “Providing a low-cost way to reach high densities will bring down the cost of delivering and using hydrogen, opening up a host of applications for hydrogen across some of the most demanding sectors of the economy from construction to ports to warehouses.”

More efficient densification pathway proven 

The novel hydrogen densification pathway that LLNL and Verne demonstrated produces cryo-compressed hydrogen without requiring a phase change, leading to 50 percent energy savings relative to small-scale hydrogen liquefaction.

During the most recent demonstration, conversion of hydrogen to 81 K (-314 degrees Fahrenheit) and 350 bar (one bar is equivalent to atmospheric pressure at sea level) and densities greater than 60 grams per liter were achieved using a catalyst-filled heat exchanger. 

In addition to energy savings, this densification pathway is more modular than hydrogen liquefaction. While hydrogen liquefaction typically requires construction of large, centralized facilities, cryo-compression can be efficiently built at small scale. This means that the hydrogen distribution network can be further optimized, locating densification and distribution hubs closer to the points of use.

 

Read the full press release: https://www.llnl.gov/article/52606/llnl-verne-demonstrate-highly-efficient-hydrogen-densification-pathway-less-required-energy