The future of clean energy, indeed the present, is hydrogen, and this also applies to rail transport. They are aware of it Italian Fs and Snam, which have just signed a Memorandum of Understanding to evaluate the technical-economic feasibility and the new business models linked to the development and diffusion of hydrogen railway transport in Italy.
The agreement was signed by the managing directors Gianfranco Battisti and Marco Alverà, and foresees the realization of analyzes and feasibility studies and the development of joint projects on hydrogen-convertible railway lines on the national territory. In particular, the railway group and the one that manages the gas network in Italy will set up a working group with the aim of evaluating possible pilot projects that envisage the replacement of fossil fuels with hydrogen.
Companies will experiment with innovative technological solutions related to the production, transport, compression, storage, supply and use of hydrogen to contribute to the development of sustainable mobility, also by participating together in joint initiatives subject to potential funding or public tender.
“The agreement signed with Snam – commented the CEO of FS Battisti – confirms the importance, for FS Italiane, of encouraging sustainable mobility, in full coherence with the European guidelines of the Green New Deal. We continue to innovate and develop safe and ecological mobility solutions that will allow the new generations to live in a more sustainable and competitive country, according to a model that increasingly places people at the centre. In this sense, hydrogen rail transport represents a fundamental innovation capable of making passenger and freight journeys greener on the remaining railway sections not yet electrified".
“With this agreement – added the managing director of Snam, Marco Alverà – we take an important step in the promotion of a hydrogen supply chain in Italy starting from crucial sectors for decarbonization such as the transport of people and goods. Thanks to the collaboration between FS Italiane and Snam, we aim to build infrastructures to rapidly convert trains currently powered by diesel in Italy to hydrogen and thus acquire technological leadership that can also be capitalized on at an international level".
