Engie, Alstom ink hydrogen rail agreement

French utility Engie SA (EPA:ENGI) announced on Wednesday that it has signed a partnership agreement with rolling stock manufacturer Alstom SA (EPA:ALO) to offer hydrogen-based solutions for the rail freight sector in Europe.

Under the agreement, Alstom is to design a hydrogen rail solution based on high-power fuel-cell system, while Engie will be supplying renewable hydrogen for this solution “via the deployment of an innovative supply chain”, the utility said in a press release.

The partnership will be targeting major European rail freight countries, Engie added.

The two French companies have been in a hydrogen relationship before, when they collaborated on testing Alstom’s Coradia iLint fuel-cell passenger train on Dutch tracks in March 2020. Engie supplied renewable hydrogen for the train at the time.

“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. In order 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 Raphael Bernardelli, Vice President, Corporate Strategy at Alstom.

Engie, for its part, plans to develop 4 GW of renewable hydrogen production capacity, build 700 kilometres (435 miles) of dedicated hydrogen network and 1 TWh of storage capacity, and manage more than 100 refueling stations, all by 2030, it says.

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