HDF Energy (Hydrogène de France), a manufacturer of high-power fuel cells, has signed a strategic partnership with DIGAS, an expert in locomotive modernization. The two companies will combine their efforts, resources and expertise to accelerate the design and development of diesel locomotive modernization projects using hydrogen. To support this partnership, HDF has also taken a minority stake in DIGAS. This partnership will create synergies between HDF and DIGAS to jointly design and develop zero-CO2 hydrogen locomotives.2 to provide a real alternative to polluting diesel locomotives. HDF Energy will capitalize on its expertise in the development of hydrogen infrastructures, based on 10 years of practical technical experience throughout the hydrogen value chain. This partnership will help position the company as a designer and manufacturer of high-power fuel cells for heavy-duty mobility (rail and maritime).
As a reminder, HDF already has initial experience in the railway sector in France with the HyShunt project carried out with Captrain, a subsidiary of SNCF, for the development of the first hydrogen-powered shunting locomotive. Based in Latvia, DIGAS has 15 years of proven experience in engineering, certification and commissioning in the field of modernization of all types of high-power vehicles, with a focus on the locomotive sector. It is the first company in the European Union to have successfully certified a modernized locomotive with gaseous fuel.
