[NEWS]H2 mobility for the Brescia-Iseo-Edolo railway

[NEWS] H2 mobility for the Brescia-Iseo-Edolo railway

The H2iseo project aims to achieve a hydrogen-powered railway mobility and transform Valcamonica into the first Italian "hydrogen valley".

Born from the partnership between FMN (second biggest Italian railway operator) and Trenord (a company operating in the passenger rail transport sector of the Lombardy Region), the H2iseO project aims to realize a hydrogen mobility (H2 mobility) on the railway line Brescia-Iseo-Edolo, crossing Valcamonica, an area which aims to become the first Italian “Hydrogen Valley”. The project concerns the implementation of two fundamental interventions:

1. The initial purchase of 6 hydrogen-powered trains, with the option to supply other 8, replacing the fleet of 14 diesel-powered trains, which currently run on the Brescia-Iseo-Edolo route. The investment was estimated at over 160 million. The first of these convoys, produced by Alstom, will be delivered by 2023 and will be entrusted, by lease, to Trenord.

2. The realization of power stations for the production of hydrogen. The first hydrogen production, storage and distribution plant will be built by FNM in Iseo between 2021 and 2023.

The production of hydrogen will initially rely on the so-called Steam Methane Reforming (SMR) technology, from methane/biomethane, with capture and storage of CO2 produced, for the production of "blue hydrogen".

However, by 2025, further plants will be built for the production and distribution of hydrogen by electrolysis (the so-called green hydrogen) along the track of the railway, in partnership with energy operators, with which FNM is defining an agreement.

Lastly, by 2025, it is planned to apply the hydrogen solution to local public transport, with the possibility of further opening to use by freight and/or private logistics.