Swedish companies Väte Rail and Hankavik signed a letter of intent with Pesa Bydgoszcz to put into service manufacturer’s hydrogen shunting locomotives. The first such locomotive is expected to start operation in Sweden in 2027 – 2028.
The companies will also cooperate in providing customers with hydrogen refuelling infrastructure and creating entire H2 eco systems, with the production of hydrogen from green energy sources.
Väte Rail is a carrier that has recently signed a contract to service shunting work for one of the world’s steel producers. The contract assumes the decarbonisation of shunting work services, and the operator carrier has decided to achieve the assumed zero emission goals by using a hydrogen Pesa locomotive for shunting activities. In June, the representatives of Väte Rail tested Pesa’s SM42-6Dn locomotive on site, during shunting activities on the siding in Inowrocław, in real operating conditions.
“Our strategy is to decarbonise our entire transport operations by 2030. Our vision is to be the greenest rail carrier in Sweden, and I believe that if you want to be ‘green’ on the railways, you have to use hydrogen drives,” said Jan Forslund, President of Väte Rail.
Hankavik is responsible for organising the rolling stock fleet for Väte Rail. Its representatives have also begun talks with Pesa and will be responsible for introducing the hydrogen shunting locomotives to the Swedish market.
“I admit that we were positively surprised by the operating parameters of the hydrogen shunting locomotive manufactured by Pesa. The SM42-6Dn performed excellently during work on the siding, and our drivers highly appreciated the comfortable working conditions. The shunting locomotives used in Scandinavia are old vehicles, and the ecological and quiet hydrogen locomotive seems ideal to replace them,” Adrian Lindqvist, President of Hankavik said.
SM42-6Dn manufactured by Pesa is the first hydrogen locomotive on the European market that has been approved for operation. It is completely emission-free, powered by two hydrogen cells with a power of 85kW each and equipped with four asynchronous drives with a total power of 720kW. It is designed for classic shunting work on sidings and terminals.
“The development of our presence on Scandinavian markets is one of the elements of the Pesa 2030+ Strategy. I am very happy that the first vehicle to hit the Swedish tracks may be our zero-emission hydrogen locomotive, especially since, using the experience gained with the SM42-6Dn, we are already working on the project of the next generation of such vehicles, as the hydrogen locomotive with additional power supply from electric traction,” Krzysztof Zdziarski, the President of Pesa Bydgoszcz, said.
Using its experience, Pesa has begun work on the design of a new 2H shunting locomotive, which, in addition to hydrogen cells, will have additional power supply from electric traction, which will enable trains to be pulled out of terminals in regional train traffic. The Pesa Loco 2H prototype is to be ready in 2026 – 2027.
The SM42-6Dn shunting locomotive with a hydrogen drive is the result of a a comprehensive modernisation of the SM42 locomotive realized for PKN Orlen. It is the first stage of Pesa’s programme of implementing hydrogen technologies in rail vehicle drives.
The four-axle SM42-6Dn locomotive powered by hydrogen cell system consists of two 16 tanks packages mounted in a steel frame. A total capacity of 32 hydrogen tanks is 175 kg, with a max. refuelling time up to 30 min.
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