Balfour Beatty’s M77 Hydrogen project is underway, retrofitting heavy vehicles to take hydrogen fuel and promoting decarbonisation
Balfour Beatty have officially launched the M77 Hydrogen project, which will eventually see the first construction hydrogen hub in Scotland.
The project aims to demonstrate the viability of hydrogen power for both heavy plant and equipment.
The M77 Hydrogen project is the result of a two year collaboration
Balfour Beatty have collaborated with ULEMCo, Logan Energy, and PlusZero Power, as well as receiving funding of £243,000 from the Scottish government, to prepare for this project.
As a result, the M77 Hydrogen project can retrofit heavy vehicles and equipment to work on a hybrid-hydrogen design. The vehicles and equipment can still switch to diesel fuel if necessary, offering flexibility and reducing risk of getting ‘caught out’ with hydrogen supply.
The project finds that the retrofitting process is relatively straightforward.
Costs are still an issue for hydrogen technology
Retrofitting is an expensive process as current technologies have to adapt to older ones, adhere to regulations, and ensure that the operation of the machine or plant is not disrupted.
One other issue is hydrogen supply. In Scotland there are a limited number of refuellers and access to hydrogen gas. However, this is expected to improve over the next two years or so, and so the situation will improve.
Despite difficulties, the M77 Hydrogen project shows promising results so far, having retrofit two salt spreader HGVs and an Impact Protection Vehicle, as well as a green hydrogen supply, onsite storage, and refuelling infrastructure.
The salt spreaders are showing a reduction in carbon emissions of 26%, while the IPV is also showing a carbon reduction, but at a slightly lower rate. This shows that the project is working while also providing data for future improvements in fleet and plant machine energy efficiency.
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