Inlandsbanan and Statkraft recently signed a letter of intent to jointly carry out a pilot project to investigate the hydrogen-powered freight trains during. The investment can enable carbon-free transport of heavy goods through half of Sweden.
In 2018, the world’s first hydrogen-powered train was launched in regular traffic in Germany. Inlandsbanan and Statkraft have now signed a letter of intent for joint investment in hydrogen-driven, heavy goods transport. The investment includes a pilot project during 2021 when the companies intend to investigate further the conversion of Inlandsbanan’s diesel-powered freight trains to hydrogen gas. If the results of the investigation are positive, hydrogen production and associated infrastructure will be established in the next step and tests of hydrogen-powered freight traffic by rail will be carried out.
The investment is in line with Inlandsbanan’s ambition to create a prioritized freight corridor through half of Sweden without carbon dioxide emissions and at the same time avoid establishing expensive contact lines along the track. In 2019, the company conducted its first passenger transport with fossil fuel. Through the collaboration with Statkraft, which is today Europe’s leading supplier of renewable energy, new opportunities are now being prepared to convert to hydrogen-powered, carbon-free freight transport.
“This is a very important step in providing transport opportunities for all our customers in the heavy industry who have very high environmental requirements”, says Peter Ekholm, CEO of Inlandsbanan.
In a statement, Statkraft’s VP for hydrogen, Ulf Eriksen, also expresses his confidence in the collaboration, ” Statkraft believes that hydrogen from renewable energy will be crucial for achieving carbon dioxide-free transport and this project provides interesting opportunities in that development.”
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