Liebherr – Aerospace & Transportation SAS, a company based in France that specializes in the production of fuel cell compressors, has signed a collaboration agreement1 with Alstom aimed at improving hydrogen systems, including increasing fuel cell reliability and durability, increasing power density, and lowering the cost of such solutions.
“Alstom has made sustainable mobility one of the foundations of its strategy plan ‘Alstom in Motion 2025,'” said Jean-Baptiste Eyméoud, President of Alstom France. Our goal is to expedite hydrogen adoption in the rail sector while also developing novel solutions for the greening of heavy mobility, such as regional trains, shunting locomotives, and freight locomotives. To establish a hydrogen ecosystem, we need to mobilize the public sector and all participants in the industry, notably in France. We’re pioneering with structure alliances, as we are in many fields: SNAM, Plastic Omnium, Hynamics, Eversholt, and now Liebherr.”
Alstom has opted to partner with the Liebherr company, which has a significant presence in the South-West of France, following the acquisition of Helion Hydrogen Power (an innovative start-up specializing in high-powered fuel cells situated in Aix-en-Provence) in April 2020.
Liebherr, as a supplier of turbochargers to fuel cell system integrators, will play a key role in the reduction of emissions from rail transport, drawing on its considerable experience in fuel cell technology for automotive and aerospace applications.
This collaboration between Alstom and Liebherr is a valuable asset in the development of Alstom’s hydrogen business, which is based on Alstom’s Tarbes (South-West France) site, which is a global Center of Excellence for “green” traction systems, and Alstom Hydrogène’s Aix-en-Provence site, which covers the entire high-power fuel cell value chain and focuses primarily on the energy and transportation markets in France and internationally.
In addition, Alstom and SNAM2 (Italy’s biggest natural gas transport firm) inked a deal in 2020 to create hydrogen trains and infrastructure. Alstom will be in charge of producing and maintaining hydrogen trains (new or retrofitted), while SNAM will be in charge of developing the infrastructure for their manufacturing, transportation, and refueling.
In October 2021, Alstom also announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Plastic Omnium, a significant participant in hydrogen mobility, for the development of high-end hydrogen storage solutions for the rail industry.
