Poland: Pesa will be granted PLN 36.1 mln (€8.6 mln) by June. The relevant agreement has been signed with the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (NFOŚiGW).
The funds are allocated for developing and producing a prototype train powered by hydrogen fuel cells, overhead contact lines, and batteries. It too is due ready by June. The total project cost exceeds PLN 108 mln (€25 mln).
The future two-car set will be based on the Regio160 platform, being fitted with Ballard fuel cells. It is claimed to be able to carry around 200 passengers, 120 of them seated. Each car will be equipped with two bogies, with axle load not exceeding 18 tf. It is noted that such a solution will be suitable for 40% of the Polish network, which is unelectrified.
Render of the future hydrogen hybrid train from Pesa. Source: Pesa
Poland’s Minister for Climate and Environment, Paulina Hennig-Kloska, said the agreement signing had been planned a year earlier. However, the European Commission spent that time investigating whether the grant constituted unlawful state aid to the manufacturer. It is worth noting that at the end of 2025 Pesa secured €1.6bn for production expansion, new contracts, and R&D.
Also last autumn, the Polish manufacturer received another NFOŚiGW grant of PLN 53 mln (€12.5 mln) for creating capacity to produce shunting hydrogen locomotives. That project, costing more than PLN 163 mln (€38.6 mln), includes building an assembly hall on the Bydgoszcz plant site and a warehouse of more than 15,000 m². In the first stage, Pesa plans to produce 24 such locomotives. The manufacturer previously had experience modernising a diesel locomotive for hydrogen traction.
