China powers up hydrogen rail plans with locomotive conversion
- New engine can run for up to 190 hours and be refuelled in two, according to manufacturer
- Technology could replace fossil fuel systems used in thousands of trains throughout the country, report says
The “Ningdong”, China’s first hydrogen locomotive converted from an internal combustion engine, rolled off the line at the Datong subsidiary of state-owned manufacturer China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC) on Thursday.
Liang Zhenzhong, deputy general manager and chief engineer of CRRC Datong, said the hydrogen-powered locomotive could run continuously for up to 190 hours.
Liang told state-run Science and Technology Daily that the locomotive had a hydrogen storage system that could be refuelled in two hours and was cheaper to operate.
“Hydrogen is a clean, renewable energy. The operating costs of hydrogen-powered locomotives are about half those of internal combustion ones,” he was quoted as saying.
China has more than 7,800 internal combustion locomotives running on fossil fuels, accounting for 36 per cent of the national total.
The CRRC technology could replace more than 90 per cent of those engines, according to the report.
Hydrogen holds huge potential in reducing emissions because, unlike fossil fuels, it does not produce harmful pollutants or greenhouse gases. The only by-products of hydrogen-powered vehicles are heat and water.
A hydrogen locomotive is powered by hydrogen interacting with oxygen in a fuel cell, a reaction that produces water vapour and electricity. The fuel cells and hydrogen tanks are usually mounted on the roof of the train.
Hydrogen can be produced from various sources, such as natural gas, nuclear power, biomass and renewable energy but if it is generated by renewable energy sources, known as “green hydrogen”, then the whole process is clean and sustainable.
The world’s first hydrogen-powered passenger train entered commercial service in Germany in 2018 and has travelled more than 220,000km (136,700 miles) in eight European countries as of January, according to its manufacturer, French train maker Alstom.
China has an ambitious plan to promote the development of its hydrogen-powered vehicles, aiming to have 50,000 fuel cell vehicles on its roads by 2025, according to a National Development and Reform Commission plan released in March last year.
It also aims to build a number of hydrogen refuelling stations and produce 100,000 to 200,000 tonnes of green hydrogen a year by 2025.
In December 2022, CRRC unveiled a hydrogen-powered train in Chengdu, the capital city of southwest China’s Sichuan province.
The train was the fastest of its kind in the world, with a speed of 160km/h (100 miles per hour), according to local newspaper Chengdu Daily.
The train’s fuel cells could run for 600km – enough to last for a day without the need for refuelling, the report said.
