foto: Trainspotter Slovenia / Flickr / All Rights Reserved/Siemens Mireo Plus B & Siemens Mireo Plus H
Germany is trialling hydrogen trains where wires end. The aim is to cut diesel without stringing new catenary.
Within the Deutsche Bahn group, DB Energie is responsible for introducing hydrogen to German rail and is developing mobile hydrogen refuelling stations. Green hydrogen is produced directly on site using environmentally friendly electricity, then stored in a mobile tank and, before refuelling, conditioned and cooled in a tanker trailer. Communication between the train and the filling station enables pressure-regulated refuelling adapted to the vehicle. The vehicle can thus be refuelled in the optimal time so that it can promptly return to the line.
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The first hydrogen train is operated by the Bavarian regional transport company Bayerische Regiobahn (BRB). In Augsburg, DB Energie built a hydrogen filling station and a mobile trailer with a tank. Among technology firms, Siemens Mobility is primarily involved in developing hydrogen for rail in Germany. It is creating a complete hydrogen system for rail called H2goesRail. The project includes Siemens Mireo Plus H trains. Testing in real-world service was financially supported by the Federal Ministry of Transport.
Hydrogen trains were first deployed in real operation in the state of Hesse, in the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsbund transport association. Services began with the new timetable in December 2022 with Alstom Coradia iLint trains on four not fully electrified lines, but with major problems, which we describe below in the article.
Hydrogen Is Also a Topic for DB Cargo
The rail freight operator DB Cargo bases its strategy on government strategic documents, according to which annual hydrogen consumption will amount to approximately 110 terawatt-hours by 2030. For comparison: total electricity consumption in Germany most recently amounted to approximately 580 terawatt-hours per year. "Hydrogen will play an important role in the future energy mix. There are currently many new initiatives to transport green hydrogen by sea to Germany," says Dr Sigrid Nikutta, CEO of DB Cargo AG and a member of the DB Management Board responsible for freight transport.
DB Cargo is preparing for a new role of a hydrogen distributor. Above all, from ports to industrial enterprises inland. According to Nikutta, hydrogen needs logistics that only Deutsche Bahn can offer across the whole of Germany. Transporting hydrogen by rail is a competitive alternative to pipelines, especially because the latter do not yet exist.
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Market and Political Battle of Hydrogens
As with other energy sources, hydrogen technologies are also witnessing a political-economic clash. So-called green hydrogen is produced by electrolysis exclusively from renewable energy sources. However, it cannot always be produced where it is needed. Therefore, logistics solutions are required. Green hydrogen is produced mainly in regions with abundant wind, sun and water. It is expected that hydrogen will be imported to Germany bound in chemicals by sea transport.
DB Cargo, in cooperation with energy companies, has developed a concept for transporting hydrogen in liquid form so that it can use rail tank cars. However, special hydrogen tankers are required for transport, from which a specific amount of hydrogen can always be withdrawn, for example for hydrogen filling stations. DB Cargo is also testing the transport of hydrogen in gaseous form under high pressure in special Multi Element Gas Containers and of frozen liquefied hydrogen at an extremely low temperature (−253 °C).
Green hydrogen needs to displace from the future market hydrogen that is not produced from renewable sources. Ideologically, it has been named “grey hydrogen.” This is hydrogen produced from natural gas, during which CO₂ is released. For each tonne of hydrogen, 10 tonnes of CO₂ are produced. Grey hydrogen is also spoken of when electricity from sources other than so-called renewables is used for water electrolysis. Grey hydrogen currently still constitutes the majority of hydrogen produced: in Germany it is approximately 40%.
Hydrogen Trains: Theory and Real Railway Operation
The regional hydrogen trains in Hesse — the "world’s largest hydrogen fleet" — cost a total of EUR 500 million. Alstom initially delivered only part of the total of 27 ordered sets. There were no replacement trains and for months replacement services were run with diesel buses. Only a year later, with the timetable change in December 2023, did Alstom deliver all the ordered hydrogen trains. Chaos on the Hessian railway, however, continued. There were repeated technical problems and trains regularly dropped out of service. "The main reasons are the limited functionality of the drive technology and a lack of spare parts," the operator stated, and in desperation ordered and put diesel trains back on the line.
The central problem of hydrogen technology is its relatively low energy efficiency. The entire process from electricity generation through the production and storage of hydrogen to the reconversion to electricity in the fuel cell is characterised by significant energy losses. Studies show that up to 70 percent of the original energy can be lost in the production, storage, distribution and use of hydrogen. For comparison: in trains powered directly by electricity, the efficiency of the entire chain from electricity generation to tractive power is over 80 percent. This means that purely electric trains operate much more efficiently and economically.
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The acquisition costs of hydrogen vehicles are currently significantly higher than those of diesel or battery-electric trains. Added to this are the high costs of building suitable hydrogen infrastructure, such as production facilities, storage, transport and filling stations.
In practice, therefore, hybrid battery trains (BEMU) are proving themselves on non-electrified line sections or branches off main lines. The efficiency and economic effectiveness of these systems are significantly higher than for hydrogen trains because they do not require the conversion of hydrogen to electricity. In addition, the infrastructure for charging batteries is often cheaper and simpler to implement than hydrogen filling stations. These battery-electric trains currently achieve a range of 80 to 120 kilometres and in Central Europe can thus bridge most gaps in the electrification of the rail network.
Hydrogen as an Economically Suitable Choice on Selected Lines
However, hydrogen can still be a winner in the future on some lines, also from an economic standpoint. A model situation might be this: a sufficiently long (more than 100 km) non-electrified line where more intensive rail freight operations are not envisaged, but where it is necessary to ensure passenger rail transport, while at the same time for various reasons the electrification of this line is not currently planned. If the saved costs for electrification are included in the overall economic model and the expected price of ETS 2 emission allowances for transport (from 2027) is taken into account, which will significantly burden diesel propulsion, then on such lines a hydrogen train may be the most advantageous solution.
In Germany operations already exist. Hydrogen trains (HEMU) Siemens Mireo Plus H have replaced diesel multiple units on the regional Heidekrautbahn (RB 27) line in the district of Barnim in Brandenburg and run as far as Berlin. Hydrogen from local wind and solar power plants is used for production. Although the entire project did not take place without subsidies from public funds, it shows here how certain types of line can be served even without electrification.