Alstom and Hungary’s largest oil and gas firm have signed a memorandum of understanding to investigate the use of hydrogen technology in rail transportation.
Every year, the MOL Group produces and uses over 150,000 tonnes of hydrogen. The company contributes to the program by delivering green alternative fuels, based on its commercial and technological capabilities.
Countries must intensify their steps to control global warming and keep it below the two-degree target, as stated at the recent COP26 Summit in Glasgow. The EU’s 2030 climate goals remain unaltered, with greenhouse gas emissions to be cut by 55% from 1990 levels. The European Union (EU) aspires to attain net zero emissions by 2050. Hydrogen trains, such as Alstom’s Coradia iLint, the world’s first hydrogen train, are an emission-free alternative for non-electrified routes.
Hungary aspires to be a leader in the transition to net zero energy. As part of its National Hydrogen Strategy, the country is looking into the possibility of incorporating hydrogen technology into rail transportation.
“By developing the world’s first hydrogen train, Alstom established that hydrogen trains are a cost-effective and ecologically benign alternative propulsion technology,” said Gaspar Balazs, Managing Director and CEO of Alstom in Hungary. With this MoU, we hope to share our hydrogen technology expertise and assist Hungary in entering a new era in rail transportation: the net zero era. We know from experience that hydrogen trains are a dependable, clean, and cost-effective rail solution.”
“The moment has come to manufacture hydrogen with lower carbon intensity in line with the regulatory environment and consumer expectations, as well as to use our knowledge in the sector of mobility,” stated Gabriel Szabó, Managing Director of MOL Group Downstream. We are glad to join forces with Alstom as the largest fuel supplier to the Hungarian rail industry. This collaboration will enable us to investigate the potential of hydrogen supply and related infrastructure development in rail transportation, one of the most sustainable modes of transportation.”
Alstom is a pioneer in hydrogen technology, having launched the Coradia iLint in September 2018 in Germany. The Coradia iLint trains have completed over 200,000 kilometers in passenger service with zero CO2 emissions in Germany and Austria, and have been successfully tested in the Netherlands. SNCF (France) and FNM (Germany) have also purchased Alstom’s hydrogen technology (Italy).
Coradia iLint hydrogen trains are essentially electric trains with onboard electricity generation provided by a hydrogen-powered fuel cell. The train’s major energy source is hydrogen, which is mixed with oxygen from the air within the fuel cell, which generates all of the train’s electricity. The battery stores braking energy, boosts acceleration, and provides supplemental power. An advanced energy management system constantly monitors the train’s energy consumption, taking into account the track ahead of it, including hills, and allowing for a range of up to 1,000 kilometers. A hydrogen train emits only water; no dangerous particulate or gaseous emissions are produced. Hydrogen refueling stations are required to run these trains. Alstom already works with oil and gas firms like Linde in Germany and Orlen in Poland to build this infrastructure.
