Alstom, Liebherr signs MoU to optimize H2 fuel cells
Alstom has announced that it has signed a collaboration agreement with Liebherr – Aerospace & Transportation SAS, a France-based company specializing in the manufacture of compressors for fuel cells.
This agreement is aimed at optimizing hydrogen systems, including improving the reliability and durability of fuel cells, increasing their power density, and reducing the cost of such solutions.
"Alstom has made sustainable mobility one of the pillars of its strategic plan Alstom in Motion 2025. Our ambition is to accelerate the adoption of hydrogen in the rail industry and to develop innovative solutions in the context of the greening of heavy mobility, including regional trains, shunting locomotives, and freight locomotives," said Jean-Baptiste Eyméoud, President of Alstom France.
"To develop a hydrogen ecosystem, particularly in France, we need to mobilize the public authorities and all the players in this sector. As in many fields, we are innovating with structuring partnerships: SNAM, Plastic Omnium, Hynamics, Eversholt, and now Liebherr".
Following the acquisition last April of Helion Hydrogen Power (an innovation start-up specializing in high-powered fuel cells, based in Aix-en-Provence), Alstom has now chosen to cooperate with the Liebherr Group, which has a strong presence in the South-West of France.
Leveraging its massive experience in fuel cell technology for automotive and aerospace applications, Liebherr, as a supplier of turbochargers to fuel cell system integrators, will play a major role in the process of reducing emissions from rail transport.
This collaboration between Alstom and Liebherr is an additional asset in the development of Alstom's hydrogen business, which relies, among others, on Alstom's site in Tarbes (in eth South-West of France), a global Centre of Excellence for "green" traction systems, and on Alstom Hydrogène site in Aix-en-Provence, which covers the entire high-power fuel cell value chain and focuses mainly on the energy and transport markets, in France and internationally.
