photo: Alstom press materials/Alstom and Engie to develop hydrogen locomotives for freight transport
Alstom has signed an agreement with French energy industrial group Engie to supply hydrogen locomotives to decarbonize long-distance transportation.
To help address environmental issues, the level and number of which have increased to vital limits over the past few years, Alstom and Engie have agreed to develop a state-of-the-art, low-carbon, zero-emission mainline transportation solution. Alstom will develop this solution based on a high-power fuel cell system that can power electric locomotives on non-electrified sections, while the French group Engie will supply renewable hydrogen for this purpose by deploying an innovative supply chain.
"Our ambition is to accelerate the adoption of hydrogen power in the rail industry by developing innovative solutions that help green heavy-duty mobility operations like rail freight. To help drive the evolution of the hydrogen rail sector, we need to gather stakeholders, and this is exactly why we have decided to partner with Engie," said Raphaël Bernardelli, Vice President, Corporate Strategy at Alstom.
Both companies have long demonstrated their commitment to putting hydrogen at the center of the decarbonization of the rail industry. In 2018, for example, Alstom launched the world's first hydrogen-powered passenger train, the Coradia iLint, in Germany, followed by successful tests in the Netherlands (in cooperation with Engie), Austria, Poland, France, and Sweden. In turn, Engie intends to build 4 GW of hydrogen capacity from renewable sources, build 700 km of dedicated hydrogen network and 1 TWh of storage capacity, and operate more than 100 filling stations by 2030.
The development of hydrogen locomotives is a revolutionary solution in the rail freight sector. It will pave the way for zero-emission rail transport.