Fuel cell cooperation emerges between OMV and Austrian Post
The Austrian mineral oil company OMV and Austrian Post AG want to create the preconditions for Austrian Post to be able to run 2,000 fuel cell trucks on green hydrogen by 2030. To this end, both companies have now signed a memorandum of understanding.
According to the statement, the declared goal “promote commercial electromobility for heavy goods vehicles in Austria, powered by hydrogen fuel cells, and to facilitate availability”. The first deployment in Austria is planned for 2023 at the latest.
Until then, both companies want to prepare themselves. Austrian Post is planning tests with various vehicles and wants to test the integration into its existing fleet and processes. OMV wants to make progress in the production and distribution of green hydrogen by then – the company recently made an investment decision together with Kommunalkredit Austria for a 10 MW electrolysis plant at the Schwechat site. Details of the tests, however, are not mentioned in the statement.
“Both companies intend to use this to gain experience in operating the hydrogen supply chain and fleet,” OMV wrote in the statement. While they are jointly laying the foundation for the operation of FC trucks in 2030, the initiative says it is open to further cooperation with interested companies.
“Hydrogen is a key technology for CO2 reduction and for meeting climate targets – in industrial applications and on the road,” says Thomas Gangl, OMV Chief Downstream Operations Officer. “We see huge potential in goods transport and public transport in particular, as these are areas where electrification can be difficult or even impossible.”
Austrian Post already uses numerous electric vehicles, so far mainly battery-electric. For example, Renault Kangoo Z.E. vehicles are used for deliveries, and Austrian Post aims to achieve a purely electric fleet in Graz by August 2021.
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