Several partners are researching how a hydrogen infrastructure for agricultural usage may operate in the H2Agrar pilot project. The role of AGCO/Fendt is to offer hydrogen-powered tractors. This groundbreaking proposal was named the winner of the DLG Agrifuture Concept Award 2022 by the German Agricultural Society.
Several prototype hydrogen-powered tractors are being utilized on fields for the first time in the H2Agrar agricultural pilot project. The project’s goal is to explore and build a hydrogen infrastructure for agriculture in Germany’s Emsland area.
“We are ecstatic to win this outstanding award from the DLG. This grant motivates both the Fendt pre-development team and the other H2Agrar partners to keep working hard on research into alternative power production models,” says Walter Wagner, General Manager Research and Development AGCO/Fendt. “Electric mobility is not an alternative to conventional energy for equipment with a high power requirement.” Other alternatives, such as the utilization of hydrogen, are being investigated here. The optimal circumstances for this are provided by the model project H2Agrar.”
Producing sustainable food with hydrogen
The research initiative will look into the usage and potential of hydrogen in agricultural machinery, among other things. Fendt is working on a prototype hydrogen-powered tractor with fuel cells to achieve this goal. Throughout the research, they will be employed in real-world settings on two test farms in Germany’s Haren area. The hydrogen consumption of the tractors will be determined as part of the project. Simultaneously, the technological requirements for an appropriate hydrogen infrastructure for agriculture will be investigated. These breakthroughs will serve as the foundation for future research into farm vehicle CO2 emissions reduction.
Lower Saxony is funding the construction of a hydrogen infrastructure in the model region of Emsland through the joint project H2Agrar and Green H2 Hub-Haren. Green hydrogen is created using renewable energy from a nearby wind farm. This will mostly be employed in the mobility and agricultural sectors. To accomplish so, a network of service stations for alternative fuels such as hydrogen, as well as electronic recharging stations, is being developed. Together with CEC Haren GmbH & Co. KG, Röchling Engineering Plastics SE & Co. KG, the Technical University of Braunschweig, and the Emden/Leer University of Applied Sciences, AGCO/Fendt is working on the project.
