Toyota, CaetanoBus & Snam team up on H2
Toyota has just partnered with Italian gas network operator Snam and the Portuguese bus manufacturer CaetanoBus to accelerate the introduction of hydrogen mobility in both heavy and light transport.
Snam has revealed that the aim is to support public administrations, companies and private institutions in Italy and other European countries with hydrogen mobility. The three companies are aiming to support the entire value chain from the production of hydrogen to infrastructures for distribution and refuelling to the introduction of bus, logistics and passenger car fleets.
The collaborating companies – the subsidiary Snam4Mobility, Toyota Motor Europe, Toyota Motor Italy and CaetanoBus – have now signed a Memorandum of Understanding. With the conviction that hydrogen has a fundamental role to play in the decarbonisation of the transport sector the partners will contribute their know-how, forge ahead with research and develop projects to accelerate the adoption of hydrogen-based transport.
“This collaboration aims to promote the use of hydrogen as a key energy carrier to enable widespread decarbonisation in the mobility sector,” says Alessio Torelli, Snam’s Chief Mobility Officer. He summarises, “With this agreement, we aim to build an alliance between operators in the energy and transport sectors to offer end users competitive sustainable hydrogen mobility solutions.”
Luigi Ksawery Luca’, CEO of Toyota Motor Italia notes: “The presence of an adequate hydrogen refuelling infrastructure is a necessary condition for developing its full potential for mobility.” He points out the importance of collaboration, that the main players in the production and distribution system work together, “…and this agreement moves exactly in this direction,” he affirms.
The agreement is not to be limited to Italy, but will also be implemented in other European countries. Only broadly outlined as yet, the companies will not only be looking at mobility applications of hydrogen but also at stationary applications and combined heat and power.
Two of the partners are already working closely together: CaetanoBus uses Toyota’s fuel cell technology for its H2 buses. In 2020, the ties between the two companies were strengthened, and since the summer of 2021, the Portuguese company’s hydrogen and battery-electric buses have even carried the Toyota logo.
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