The Anonymous Widower

From 2025, Nestlé Waters France Will Use The First Hydrogen-Powered Freight Train Through An Innovative Solution Developed by Alstom and ENGIE

The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Alstom.

These are the main points of the press release.

• Nestlé Waters will be the first company in Europe to benefit from the hydrogen fuel cell solution developed by Alstom and ENGIE, for rail freight.

• The purpose is to operate the first hydrogen-powered freight train from the Vosges plant, thanks to a hydrogen generator wagon system developed by Alstom and supplied with renewable hydrogen by ENGIE, from 2025.

• Ultimately, this project should enable Nestlé Waters to reduce emissions by 10,000 tons of CO₂ equivalent per year.

• This new collaboration is in line with the actions Nestlé Waters has been carried out for several years to decarbonize its supply chain.

In this Alstom visualisation that accompanies the press release, an Alstom Prima locomotive can be seen pulling a tender full of hydrogen, that generates electricity.

It would appear to be a very simple concept.

• The electric locomotive uses electrification where it is available.
• On lines without electrification, hydrogen is used to generate electricity.
• The locomotive and the tender are connected by a cable.
• I suspect for longer distances, larger generators with a larger hydrogen capacity can be developed.
• It would appear that typical SNCF Prima locomotives have at least 4 MW of power, so the generator must be at least this size.

I could see this concept being used with a 4 MW Class 90 electric locomotive.

November 23, 2022 - Posted by AnonW | Hydrogen, Transport/Travel | Alstom, Alstom Prima Locomotive, Class 90 Locomotive, ENGIE, Freight, Hydrogen-Powered Locomotives, Nestlé