SPAIN: CAF and electricity company Iberdrola have signed an agreement to co-operate to promote the use of ‘green’ hydrogen to replace diesel power on railways which would be difficult or expensive to electrify.
The companies aim to offer a comprehensive package of technologies, including rolling stock, refuelling infrastructure and the hydrogen fuel.
Iberdrola’s recently-opened production plant in Barcelona is to supply hydrogen for the fuel cell powered Civia multiple-unit which CAF has developed at its Zaragoza plant as part of the FCH2RAIL project, with testing scheduled to begin in April.
‘CAF has long been strong advocate for developing its own technologies for power electronics, energy storage and batteries, and more recently hydrogen’, said CAF Group Technology Manager Iosu Ibarbia on February 2. ’This partnership agreement with Iberdrola is another step towards furthering this commitment and will contribute significantly to achieving the decarbonisation goals.’
Millán-García Tola, Director for Green Hydrogen at Iberdrola, said the partnership would bolster its commitment to decarbonising forms of transport that would be hard to electrify by other methods. ‘Both companies complement each other perfectly, and together we will be able to deliver comprehensive solutions for electrification of transport, a sector that contributes to a third of EU greenhouse gas emissions’, he said.
