Hydrogen locomotives for non-electrified lines to be launched in Poland: photos, video

On Wednesday, September 3, an agreement was signed in Poland that will allow for the mass production of hydrogen locomotives. They will be able to replace diesel locomotives on non-electrified railroad sections, reported polish Ministry of Climate and Environment.

The grant of more than PLN 53 million (almost EUR 12.5 million) will be used to increase the production capacity of PESA, the developer of the first Polish hydrogen locomotive.

The first model developed by PESA is already being tested in Lower Silesia. On Wednesday, the hydrogen locomotive with retro-style cars filled with passengers traveled from Jelenia Góra to Karpacz, where the Polish Economic Forum is taking place.

Paulina Hennig-Kloska, Minister of Climate and Environment, emphasized that more than 37% of railway lines in Poland are not electrified.

"Electrification of railways is also a big investment process, and it is expensive, so where we don't have electrified railways and where we want to decarbonize rail transport, we will look for optimal solutions, such as hydrogen or hybrid trains," she said at a press conference at Karpacz station, where the first Polish hydrogen locomotive arrived.

Pros in words dorota Zavadska-Stepniak, President of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management, the grant from the National Hydrogen Regeneration Program (KPO) accounts for 40% of the cost of the project implemented by PESA.

"The goal of this project is to increase the serial production of hydrogen locomotives. During the project implementation period, it is planned to produce 25 such locomotives," Zavadska-Stepniak said.

She also clarified that hydrogen-powered locomotives reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 89 kg per day.

Work on the hydrogen locomotive in Poland began in 2019, and the prototype was certified in 2023, said Krzysztof Zdziarski, CEO of PESA.

He added that PESA has already developed a configuration of locomotives that will be able to operate on non-electrified lines together with an electric battery.

"Therefore, hydrogen consumption will be low," said PESA's CEO.

After the tests on the Karpacz-Jelenia Góra line, the hydrogen locomotive will be tested by the Polish multinational KGHM for freight transportation.

• In Bucha, near Kyiv, it is planned to build by 2029 a plant for the production of green hydrogen and its processing into ammonia. The cost of the Ukrainian-Polish-Japanese project is $500 million.