France: According to the French outlet La Lettre, the manufacturer has disbanded its Alstom Hydrogen division, which was responsible for hydrogen traction development, with its staff reassigned to other departments.
In comments to the BFM Business portal, Alstom clarified that this decision was taken after government funding for hydrogen projects under the European IPCEI Hy2Tech programme was discontinued. The manufacturer also states that it will discuss potential support measures for this line of business with the French government.
Nevertheless, Alstom will continue to fulfil its contracts for the supply and maintenance of hydrogen trains in Europe. At present, 41 Coradia iLint units are in operation in Germany, where there have been numerous complaints about their reliability, and a hydrogen shunting locomotive has recently entered trial operation in the country.
Orders are currently being executed for the delivery of 14 Coradia Stream H trains for Italian operator FNM and 12 Regiolis H2 trainsets for French regions.
“Hydrogen technology has not yet reached full maturity. Fuel cell performance is improving, but further progress is still needed”, Alstom CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge noted in an interview with BFM Business, adding that investment in this sector is slowing in Europe, while Asia, and China in particular, continues to invest heavily in hydrogen solutions, and warning that Europe risks falling behind over the next decade.
