The Baltics have grown into a technology hub in Europe and it is no exception when it comes to rail freight. Various projects in the country are exploring the possibilities of deploying hydrogen in the sector. The latest one concerned charging the battery of a locomotive with a hydrogen-powered mobile device in Estonia.
This project sees the collaboration between private rail freight operator Operail and Spain-based Coolergy, a company specialised in the business of liquid hydrogen. The pilot involved an American GE C30 diesel locomotive at the Tapa junction station, as Coolergy CEO Kirill Lyats said on LinkedIn. Charging occurred thanks to Coolergizer, a hydrogen fuel cell-based charger on wheels.
Another Coolergy project in Riga
Since the end of 2024, Coolergy is also leading a project aimed at deploying hydrogen-powered shunting locomotives at the Freeport of Riga, in Latvia. Here, the company converted an old diesel-electric TGM4 locomotive to run on liquid hydrogen. This initiative, which also involves Estonian transport company Hanko Trans, will see 11 more units being converted by the end of this year.
Each of the locomotives will be equipped with four 80 kW Toyota fuel cells. In support of this project, Coolergy is also going to build a production and liquefaction plant with a capacity of two tonnes every day in Narva, near the Estonian border with Russia. The Latvian Energy and Transport Competence Centre ETKC is partly funding the conversion project with 500,000 euros.
