October 2022, Berlin – At the Innotrans fair, Pesa and PKN Orlen presented a hydrogen locomotive together with a hydrogen filling station. Pesa and Orlen will compete together for tenders, offering hydrogen locomotives and fueling stations as sets. Earlier, the vehicle underwent the first operational tests at the plant. Video is now available of those runs.
The vehicle will soon face its first hydrogen-fuelled run at the Railway Institute’s test track in Zmigrod, Poland.
Pesa’s strategic projects communications director Maciej Grześkowiak explained that hydrogen on the railroad is a completely new phenomenon and therefore engineers were working in uncharted territory, while also facing lengthening supply chains. In spite of challenges, the launch hall at Bydgoszcz’s Rynków rail yard – where the locomotive will be refueled from Orlen’s mobile stations – is now ready. The manufacturer is only waiting for the vehicle to return from the trade fair in Berlin.
Grześkowiak stated that the most time-consuming and labor-intensive work was related to checking and final configuration of the hydrogen system in the locomotive. “Foreign certified partners such as Ballard and Worthington worked with us on this,” he explained. A special hydrogen vehicle assembly station has already been set up in the locomotive construction hall, equipped with all the necessary sensors. “It meets the highest European safety standards for production involving hydrogen; this is the first such station in Poland,” stresses Grześkowiak.
About Worthington Industries
Worthington Industries Europe is the largest designer and manufacturer of pressure vessels in the region with over 1,600 employees working at facilities in Austria, Poland and Portugal. Worthington is the first in its industry to incorporate sustainable practices into its long-term business strategy. With the lightest composite and steel low- and high-pressure cylinders available, Worthington designs and makes solutions for technical gases, industrial gases, and alternative fuels. The Company invests strategically in production facilities that serve the sustainable mobility market with gas-storage, transport and onboard fueling systems for cars, buses, trucks and more.
Worthington Industries (NYSE:WOR) is a leading industrial manufacturing company delivering innovative solutions to customers that span many industries including transportation, construction, industrial, agriculture, retail and energy. Worthington is North America’s premier value-added steel processor and producer of laser welded products; and a leading global supplier of pressure cylinders and accessories for applications such as fuel storage, water systems, outdoor living, tools and celebrations. The Company’s brands, primarily sold in retail stores, include Coleman®, Bernzomatic®, Balloon Time®, Mag Torch®, Well-X-Trol®, General®, Garden-Weasel®, Pactool International® and Hawkeye™. Worthington’s WAVE joint venture with Armstrong is the North American leader in innovative ceiling solutions.
Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Worthington operates 51 facilities in 15 states and seven countries, sells into over 90 countries and employs approximately 7,500 people. Founded in 1955, the Company follows a people-first philosophy with earning money for its shareholders as its first corporate goal. Relentlessly finding new ways to drive progress and practicing a shared commitment to transformation, Worthington makes better solutions possible for customers, employees, shareholders and communities.
Contacts:
Todd Cesaratto
Director of Communications + Marketing | Europe
Worthington Industries
+43 664 8868 2632
todd.cesaratto@worthingtonindustries.com
Olaf Godlewski
Deputy Sales Director for Alternative Fuels –
Heavy-Duty Vehicles | Europe
Worthington Industries
+48 598 405 118
olaf.godlewski@worthingtonindustries.com