Ingolstadt municipal companies are purchasing two refuse collection vehicles and a road-sweeping vehicle with fuel cell drives. The municipal utilities and waste management services are thereby testing the climate-friendly use of hydrogen energy in commercial vehicles in everyday operation.
The project is being funded under the National Innovation Programme for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NIP2) with a total of approximately two million euros by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI). The funding guideline is coordinated by NOW GmbH and implemented by Project Management Jülich (Projektträger Jülich (PtJ)). The municipal companies submitted the funding application in October 2020. Now that the approval has been received, the vehicles can be purchased.
Already since the beginning of the year, the municipal companies have been conducting various test runs in the urban area. With the route and application profiles recorded from these, the performance profiles of the refuse collection and sweeper vehicles emerge in real operation. Based on the data obtained the new vehicles will be configured, particularly with regard to refuelling and fuel cell size. Once all evaluations have been completed and the vehicles ordered, the municipal companies estimate delivery in the first half of the year 2022.
The pilot project is another step towards CO2-neutral utilities, because the municipal companies calculate an annual saving potential of around 17,500 litres of diesel. This translates to a reduction of CO2 emissions by around 46,345kg.
The municipal companies are partners of the “IN2H2 – Ingolstadt hydrogen concept”. The “IN2H2” concept proposal selected by the BMVI will thoroughly examine the technical and economic feasibility of introducing hydrogen mobility into municipal vehicles fleets in conjunction with local hydrogen production.