Alstom and Engie have announced the formation of a joint venture to develop hydrogen-powered freight locomotives.
Their goal is to put diesel behind them. On Wednesday, Alstom and Engie announced a collaboration to produce powerful freight locomotives driven by hydrogen fuel cells.
In a joint statement, the two companies announced that Alstom is “developing a hydrogen solution from a high-power fuel cell technology that can power electric locomotives in non-electrified areas.”
Engie, a French energy firm, must contribute renewable hydrogen to power these locomotives, which are capable of pulling 2,000-ton trains.
Alstom already sells hydrogen passenger trains: two German states have purchased 41 units, and tests have been carried out in Austria, the Netherlands (with Engie), Poland, Sweden, and France.
“The objective is to maximize the use of current electric locomotives and to eliminate diesel somewhere, reducing the expenditure of millions of gallons per year for freight,” said Raphal Bernardelli, vice-president of Alstom, to AFP. “There is a desire to expand rail’s share, but this must be complemented by complete decarbonization,” he said.
Fuel cells will be responsible for replacing diesel on non-electrified lines with a few hundred kilometers of autonomy, i.e. 15 to 20% of a journey, according to research by Alstom and its partners.
The business plans to complete the project by the end of 2025, whereas SNCF and Deutsche Bahn have said that diesel would be phased out by 2035 and 2040, respectively. Operators in North America and Australia are developing comparable freight solutions.
This solution’s development will mostly be assigned to French locations such as Belfort, Tarbes, and Aix-en-Provence. Alstom is one of 15 manufacturers chosen by the French government to receive public funding through the European PIIEC projects, which foster breakthrough technologies and research (such as hydrogen).
Engie, for one, is banking on this new use to bolster hydrogen’s position in heavy transport, which it is testing with trucks in the mining industry, for example.
“We’ve put in place a lot of renewable energy capacity. Demand will be driven by usage in a more substantial and associated manner in the future “Sébastien Arbola, Engie’s Deputy Managing Director in charge of thermal, hydrogen, and energy generation emphasized this. source of energy
