Truck body manufacturer JOAB is working with Scania, waste management company Renova and Powercell Sweden on an EU project to develop and operate fuel-cell refuse trucks for the City of Gothenburg in Sweden.
Renova’s end customer wants to increase testing of fuel cell-powered refuse trucks, according to fuel-cell systems developer Powercell. The truck and its operation will be partly funded by the EU project REVIVE, which seeks to accelerate the development of hydrogen-fueled refuse trucks in Europe.
“It’s obviously very pleasing that both the City of Gothenburg and a local company like Renova want to contribute to the introduction of more sustainable vehicles for waste handling,” said Andreas Bodén, director of sales at PowerCell, which has its headquarters in Gothenburg.
PowerCell previously participated in a joint project with Renova, Scania, JOAB and the Royal Institute of Technology to develop a fuel-cell electric refuse truck that uses a fuel cell to power an on-board electric motor and refuse compactor. That project was partly funded by the Swedish Energy Agency.
Hydrogen fuel cell trucks have a comparable driving range, refuelling time and payload capacity to diesel-powered trucks, Powercell maintained, while producing less noise and emitting only water vapor, which are welcome advantages for refuse trucks operating in residential areas with early-morning collection times.
Both PowerCell and Renova recently were approved as project partners in REVIVE (Refuse Vehicle Innovation and Validation in Europe) which will partly fund the fuel cell integration and operation of the new refuse truck. This project has received funding from the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No.779589. Visit h2revive.eu for further details.
“Over the years, the FCH JU has supported the development of fuel-cell components for transport applications,” said Bart Biebuyck, FCH JU executive director. “We are glad to see these efforts coming to fruition and another European stack supplier joining the REVIVE project with its innovative products for heavy-duty applications.”
The project spans more than four years and supports the introduction of fuel-cell refuse trucks in several cities across Europe. The overall aim of the project is to speed up the introduction of zero-emissions solutions for refuse trucks.
REVIVE represents the second fuel cell-powered refuse truck in the Renova vehicle fleet. “We are strong believers in electric refuse trucks using fuel cells and hydrogen, which have obvious benefits when it comes to driving range and payload capacity, two decisive factors for extensive electrification to happen,” said Hans Zackrisson, head of development at Renova.
For the City of Gothenburg, the vehicle is meaningful as well. “Gothenburg wants to take the lead in the introduction of new and more sustainable technologies and the collaboration with Renova provides us with a great opportunity to test fuel-cell and hydrogen-based, zero-emission solutions under real circumstances,” said Peter Årnes, strategist for the Gothenburg Department for Sustainable Waste and Water.