The world's first hydrogen filling station for passenger trains is being built in Lower Saxony. An eighteen-month test phase for the first two trains was completed at the end of February, according to rail vehicle manufacturer Alstom. The gases and engineering company Linde will build and operate the hydrogen filling station near Bremervörde train station on behalf of the Lower Saxony State Local Transport Company (LNVG). Other project partners are the state of Lower Saxony and the Elbe-Weser Railways and Transport Authority (EVB). Completion is forecast for mid-2021; according to Astom, the filling station will then replace the previous mobile refueling solution. With a capacity of around 1.600 kilograms per day, it is “one of the largest hydrogen filling stations in the world.” From the beginning of 2022, 14 regional trains supplied by Alstom will be refueled there every day and around the clock if necessary, the company explained. With a range of 1.000 kilometers, the multiple units could run on the EVB network all day long with just one tank of fuel. Expansion areas at the gas station made it possible to later produce hydrogen on site using electrolysis and renewable electricity.
One kilogram of hydrogen replaces approximately 4,5 liters of diesel fuel, said Mathias Kranz, responsible for the onsite and bulk business in Germany at Linde. The introduction of hydrogen as a fuel for trains will “noticeably reduce the burden on the environment”. The filling station will become the “basis for the series operation of our hydrogen trains in the Weser-Elbe network,” explained Jörg Nikutta, Managing Director for Germany and Austria at Alstom Transport Deutschland GmbH. The Coradia iLint, built by Astom, is the world's first passenger train powered by a hydrogen fuel cell.
The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure as part of the National Innovation Program for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology. The funding guidelines are coordinated by NOW GmbH and implemented by the Project Management Jülich (PtJ).
Photos:
The symbolic groundbreaking ceremony took place at the end of July with representatives of the state and the companies involved (from left to right): Mathias Kranz (Linde), Jörg Nikutta (Alstom), Thomas Nawrocki (LNVG), Carmen Schwabl (LNVG), Holger Buse (EVB), Joachim Heider (Linde)BU / © Alstom
