The agreement was signed on October 5 by Mr Albrecht Neumann, CEO of rolling stock at Siemens Mobility, and Mr Armin Schnettler, executive vice-president of new energy business at Siemens Energy.
Under the agreement, Siemens Mobility will focus on the development and manufacture of hydrogen-powered rolling stock. The company is currently developing a modular hydrogen fuel cell drive for its Mireo Plus H regional train platform, which it plans to subsequently integrate into other platforms. Siemens Mobility will also provide any required depot equipment and rolling stock maintenance for customers.
Siemens Energy will market the technology and develop technology for the production and supply of green hydrogen.
The partners will later build on the technology through a range of pilot projects and collaborations with customers.
The MoU follows public listing of 55% of Siemens Energy’s shares as part of a wider corporate restructuring of the Siemens Group on September 28. Consequently, the Siemens Group no longer holds a controlling stake in the company, and Siemens Energy is no longer part of the Group.
Siemens Group says it plans to further reduce its stake in the company significantly over the next 12 to 18 months.
“Our cooperation with Siemens Energy paves the way for sustainable and climate-friendly mobility,” Neumann says. “This way we can support our customers in replacing their diesel-powered trains on non-electrified lines with emission-free hydrogen-powered trains over the longer term. We can even offer hydrogen as a ‘hydrogen as a service’ model for a train’s service life.”
