The project will support the in-service fleet deployment of hydrogen-powered trains by addressing the design, safety case and approvals for hydrogen refuelling at depots. This project will develop a demonstration and the safety case for a fully integrated hydrogen supply, storage and fast-fill refuelling solution and help establish the principles for regulatory approvals for depot refuelling. The case study will be used to develop a concept of operations and architecture for hydrogen train refuelling. This project builds on existing experience at Arcola Energy in hydrogen system integration, installation and risk assessment and combines that with subcontractor Abbott Risk Consulting's experience of Rail safety case and approvals for both rolling stock and infrastructure. Aegis are subcontracting Assessment Body to review the risk assessment process. The key innovation is the translation of experience in the road transport sector to refuelling at rail depot and the first of a kind demonstration of fast-fill train hydrogen refuelling approaches and protocols. As well as the safety case the project will develop a more general concept of operations for depot hydrogen refuelling and designs for infrastructure architecture and the train interface. The overall objective is to provide a significant step forward for the UK rail industry in developing the understanding and approvals processes required to deploy fleets of hydrogen trains with refuelling

The project takes a three-fold approach to the deployment of hydrogen transport in the Tees Valley: a demonstration of hydrogen fuel cell electric commercial vehicles, a development of an automated fleet analysis tool, and production of specific fleet deployment plans for zero-emission heavy vehicles. Project partners Arcola Energy and Cenex bring a combination of hydrogen technology, vehicle engineering and fleet analysis experience. Arcola Energy brings a viable route to supply of heavy-duty FCEVs and Cenex aims to accelerate the adoption of this technology through support to fleet managers. The project will demonstrate hydrogen zero-emission light commercial vehicles operating in local authority fleets. The vans will be operated in Council fleets, instrumented with remote logging devices and compared against current vehicles and pure battery electric vehicles already in fleets. The focus of the demonstration is the practical experience of hydrogen with proven technology and the comfort of staff with operation and refuelling, capturing feedback from the experience and comparison with BEVs. Cenex will develop a fleet analysis tool specifically including the capabilities of hydrogen FCEVs that will help fleet customers identify appropriate use cases for hydrogen vehicles. The desk-based fleet analysis will be used as a basis for specific fleet deployment scenario planning for future deployments of vehicles in the region and the ambitions of the Hub. Specifically the project will explore the potential for deployment of zero-emission hydrogen FCEV refuse collection vehicles (RCVs), a product which Arcola Energy is bringing to market in 2022, as well as the potential for other heavy vehicle classes. This is a key target vehicle for local authorities to reduce air quality impact of their fleets and support long term decarbonisation.

The H2iL project focuses on the development of zero emission fuel cell electric refuse collection vehicles (RCVs). The project aims to speed up the introduction of fuel cell electric RCVs and other FCEVs by focussing on improving simulation, validation and testing of this novel technology so that vehicles can be robust, reliable and safe in operation with reduced operating costs. The work includes modelling and simulation, hardware-in-the-loop testing and on-vehicle validation of both powertrain and the simulation results. The core focus of the project is on testing and validation to help ensure vehicle safety, reliability and durability to industry quality. The result will be an industry-leading capability and operational procedures for simulation, testing and validation of FCEV powertrains. We believe that taking this approach to integration of the powertrain in full product development will lead to a globally best-in-class product.

The Scottish Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Freight Trail -- ShyFT -- will assess the market opportunity for zero-emission fuel cell electric (FCEV) trucks in key segments of early business adopters looking to decarbonise freight operations in emission sensitive sectors such as forestry; food and drink wholesale, including cold-chain and utilities. The purpose of the SHyFT project is to establish a route to market for Arcola Energy's scalable FCEV powertrain platform and vehicle integration capability in the 44t truck segment by developing a viable scale demonstration based on the specific requirements of early adopter customers and infrastructure providers. SHyFT will make use of Scotland's green hydrogen supply and refuelling infrastructure and incorporate long-distance routes to England, including opportunities to collaborate with other regions. The project will also create a foundation for early market entry and opportunity for a UK supply chain in the emerging low carbon transport sector. The key objectives are: * To identify heavy-duty freight use cases, with a strong drive to decarbonise operations, which are most likely to be early adopters * To employ these use cases to initially specify vehicle and infrastructure requirements for a trial at scale, but with a view to upgrade and extend to more vehicles and other vehicle types over time. Arcola will model and integrate the early adopter vehicle requirements into a fit-for-purpose concept design and vehicle development programme to deliver a demonstrator. The trial will involve a minimum of five operators and a test fleet of 20 -- 30 vehicles, using three existing refuelers and adding 2-3 new installation during the trial. The project will also include a Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) analysis to help operators evaluate sustainability and gain internal approvals to commit to a trial. As the lead partner, Arcola is the vehicle OEM integrating the company's scalable fuel cell powertrain platform into a "glider" chassis. Scottish Power will provide access to green hydrogen production and supply. The vision is to position Arcola in a competitive position relative to high volume OEMs by offering a tailored vehicle solution for early adopter and niche market requirements. The team is led by Arcola Energy, working with the support of Arup. The Hydrogen Accelerator at the University of St Andrews will be coordinating the interactions with users and other hydrogen projects in Scotland.

Arcola Energy is a leading business in the development of fuel cell electric powertrain systems and integration into heavy duty vehicles. Our powertrain platform is integrated and optimised from tank-to-wheels to provide leading power delivery and energy efficiency. This project will develop innovative control systems for energy management for zero-emission refuse collection vehicles. The project will develop a deep integration and optimisation of the RCV body and chassis systems into the Arcola Energy powertrain to deliver a zero-emission RCV product with best possible safety, efficiency and reliability

This feasibility study is focused on the investment case and supply chain opportunities in the manufacture of powertrain systems and subsystems for hydrogen fuel cell electric powertrains for heavy-duty vehicles. Arcola Energy as the UK's leading developer of fuel cell electric powertrains will work with strategy consultancy E4tech to carry out market analysis of the heavy duty sector and the position of the UK in the global hydrogen and fuel cell supply chain. In parallel the National Composites Centre, acting as the gateway behalf of the wider catapult network, will identify supply chain and R&D opportunities for the supply of subsystems meeting the requirements of powertrains for this sector. This is expected to lead to partnerships and further R&D in batteries, fuel cells, hydrogen storage, power electronics and traction motors and drives. The main output of the feasibility study will be a business plan and investment case for Arcola Energy as the basis for seeking investment to support scale-up. The study will also produce a public report for dissemination identifying the technology requirements and market value for key powertrain components. This will be shared to support APC roadmapping exercises and to provide a market signal to potential suppliers.

Arcola Energy has developed hydrogen fuel cell electric (FCEV) powertrains for buses, and integrated and tested on a double deck bus with manufacturer Alexander Dennis (ADL). We have demonstrated the target zero-emissions range of over 200 miles with vehicle mass lower than diesel hybrid buses and well-to-wheel CO2 emissions 30% lower than diesel even on fossil fuel-derived hydrogen. We have established a co-development partnership with Optare and now taking orders for significant numbers of buses in the UK and internationally. The project follows on from this previous R&D and adds value by transferring the technology to an additional vehicle type, opening up the heavy good vehicle sector starting at 18t and upwards for wide market opportunities. The initial vehicle is an 18t gritter, directly addressing a customer need for winter resilience vehicles where payload and non-stop operation are critical. We expect this to be a global first fuel cell electric vehicle for this application, and to enable rapid adaptation of 18t truck chassis to other body variants and to demonstrate the potential for the technology for other heavy vehicles.

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Arcola Energy have developed and tested a powertrain for a prototype fuel cell electric double deck bus demonstrating the target zero emissions range of over 200 miles with full passenger carrying capacity and fuel efficiency as good as the current generation of single deck hydrogen buses. This project will continue the development of the powertrain and vehicle integration, and strengthen Arcola Energy's capability as a Tier 1 supplier to bus manufacturers and will achieve a market ready and fully homologated product for bus operators. The project will develop the powertrain including hydrogen system, fuel cell system and traction battery as well as the power electronics, thermal management, mechanical packaging and powertrain control system. The focus of the project development will be on safety, quality, reliability and robustness of the sub-systems and the whole vehicle integration and homologation. We expect the outcome of the project to be a market-ready product with leading efficiency, reliability and system lifetime for this vehicle class.

"This project will accelerate development and market readiness of zero emission powertrains and components and strengthen UK Tier 1 supply for a wide range of commercial vehicles and buses. It will bring to market complete fuel cell electric powertrains, develop a best-in-class highly integrated motor drive unit, strengthen UK capability in supply of power-led battery packs, and demonstrate a game-changing hydrogen storage technology on a commercial vehicle for the first time. Two zero-emission vehicles will be developed to production prototype stage, a double deck bus and 12t truck, demonstrating the capability and performance of the whole powertrain and the key components for a wide range of commercial vehicles. The partners are hydrogen and fuel cell system engineering business Arcola Energy, UK Tier 1 AVID Technology, Global Tier 1 Eaton and technology developer Terragenic."

"The IMPACT project will address the need for power-dense batteries for low and zero emission hybrid powertrains. Lead partner Arcola Energy is developing zero emission powertrains for buses and commercial vehicles . The project will explore the feasibility of integrating innovative thermal management technologies. Partners Reaction Engines and Flint Engineering have developed heat exchange technologies for aerospace and built environment that offer benefits to battery cooling, and Imperial College London have demonstrated a novel cooling approach. The IMPACT project will assess the technical and commercial feasibility of these technologies applied to module and pack designs. Drawing on leading academic expertise from Imperial College and Brunel University the partners will explore the technical requirements and cooling approaches and test in the lab. The project team will carry out a cost benefit analysis of the technologies to assess the business case for implementation in power battery modules and packs and will plan the next stage of development and commercialisation."

This project will deliver a truly zero operational emission bus with an optimised hydrogen fuel cell electric range extended powertrain. Significantly reducing the size of the battery to minimise weight and using a low power fuel cell to reduce costs, providing the optimum system with regards, range, shift duration, cost and weight. Led by Arcola Energy an experienced fuel cell system integrator working in partnership with Alexander Dennis as OEM integrator and route to market, Warwick Manufacturing Group bringing their experience in powertrain development and ITM Power, hydrogen refuelling manufacturer.

This project will develop a zero emission drivetrain for a 3500kg van with range and payload suitable for normal urban operations. Leading UK fuel cell system integrator Arcola Energy will carry out a full drivertrain design and integration to convert a transit van to full electric mode, with a fuel cell and hydrogen system providing the range required without compromising payload. With cmoposite material experts Haydale composite solutions, the project will also develop a 700bar hydrogen tank and system to suit the emerging refuelling standards and enable the range extension for the vehicle. The vehicle will be trialed by Commercial Group as the first fully zero emssion vehicle in their fleet of hydrogen powered vehicles which is currently the largest in the UK.

The technology for the generation and usage of hydrogen as a fuel is established however as present the best way to store the hydrogen is to pressurise the gas to 350 bar and above. That is 350 times atmospheric pressure. This has cost and safety considerations. Handling high pressure hydrogen requires thick and heavy metal cylinders or bulky composite cylinders. Electrolysers driven by electricity from renewables or from the national grid can readily generate hydrogen but this is at low pressures. Thus mechanical gas compressors are needed to compress the gas to above 350 bar. Such mechanical compressors are expensive and require constant maintenance and storing large quantities of hydrogen at high pressure requires blast zones. Being able to store the majority of gas at low pressure utilising metal hydride (MH) solid state stores not only is safer but it requires much less volume of space. Also fuel cells (which convert hydrogen and oxygen to water and electricity) operate at these low pressures too. So for certain stationary applications storing hydrogen utilisng a low pressure MH store makes sense and this project will build a prototype and explore this market.

This project will develop a zero-emissions bus based on Magtec's innovative EV powertrain adapted from military applications, range extended with Arcola Energy's low power and low cost hydrogen fuel cell system adapted from lightweight passenger vehicles. Using this combination will provide a route for operators and bus OEMs to a bus with zero particulates and NOx emissions and dramatically reduced CO2 emissions even on current generation methods for electricity and hydrogen, at a fraction of the cost of the current generation of hydrogen buses. Innovations include the overall system and energy storage optimisation and control, lightweighting, power electronics integration, lifetime extension of the fuel cell in the challenging city environment and hydrogen safety.

Increasing the penetration of renewable energy generation contributes significantly to reducing emissions and is one of the most effective ways to secure energy supply. However, renewable sources (e.g. solar and wind energy) are intermittent, unreliable and put stress on the electricity grid. Energy storage systems at scale can compensate for this, enabling greater deployment of renewables at lower system cost than grid reinforcement. This project will carry out a technical feasibility study into a novel hybrid fuel cell redox flow battery for energy storage at scale at 25% reduced cost compared to comparable existing technologies. The project therefore targets all three aspects of the energy trillema, addressing both carbon reduction and energy security through enabling greater use of renewable energy generation, while specifically addressing the cost of energy storage systems

Hydrogen (H) is a renewable energy supply that is returned to its source, water, in the process of generating energy. It does so without carbon or any other harmful emissions and its carbon footprint in the energy generation cycle is lower than that of any other renewable. Therefore, given recent advances in fuel cell technology, it is an attractive and realistic option as a mass market transport fuel. However, to reach such a market, the confidence of both the public and safety regulatory bodies will need to be gained. Specifically, H tank failure probabilities on vehicles will need to be orders of magnitude less than those in existing industrial H usage, a major challenge given that transport is a relatively uncontrolled environment. A continuous monitoring safety assurance sensor unit for vehicle H tanks, which stores a record that can be read during routine vehicle services, is proposed. This will greatly reduce failure probabilities, through early detection of H embrittlement (HE), fatigue defects and diffusion leakage. Other main project innovations include the use of passive acoustic emission (AE) sensing to keep system costs at a small fraction of the cost of a vehicle H fuel tank.

This project will enable step changes in the manufacturing cost and production volumes and rate of an innovative closed cathode PEM fuel cell stacks in the power range 1-10kW for a range of applications. The project aims to achieve a low cost flexible design for low-mid volume production by taking a system approach to cell and stack components and manufacturing process. The project will address specific technology challenges that are bottlenecks and barriers to volume production of current stacks, will work with suppliers to integrate innovative materials and lead to component specifications optimal for performance and manufacturing. In parallel, process design and innovation will lead to automated or semi-automated processes replacing the current manual manufacturing process so that production rates can be increased by two orders of magnitude within 5 years

This project aims to produce a convenient, low-cost and low carbon energy service to customers who need power in remote situations, such as construction sites, environmental monitoring or transport equipement. The service will use hydrogen as a fuel and fuel cells as the power source, together optimised to match the power requirements of modern low energy equipment and lighting. This energy service will aim to replace conventional, noisy, polluting and inefficient deisel or petrol generators where posisble. By providing a service the partners aim to help companies make the switch to new cleaner technologies. The project is led by Commercial Group who are an integrated buysiness services company used to delivering services to customers and the first company in its sector to be Carbon Neutral and Zero Waste. Arcola Energy brings hydrogen and fuel cells expertise to enable a service and BOC has many years of experience and significant previous investment into hydrogen energy systems.

Hydrogen’s use as a clean, lightweight fuel is held back by technological limitations and the high cost of storage and fuel cells. This project aims to overcome barriers to market entry by proving a profitable early market application in small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) designed for marine research, extending range and payload compared with lithium batteries. A consortium comprising Cella Energy’s hydrogen materials developers, Arcola Energy’s fuel cell expertise and the Scottish Association of Marine Science’s UAS research team are working to demonstrate a flyable aircraft with innovative solid-state hydrogen storage integrated with lightweight fuel cells as a proof-of-concept for <7 kg marine UAS. Small UAS are rapidly developing tools for agriculture and public safety on land; and marine and climate research, and energy monitoring offshore, where they benefit from less restrictive aviation regulation. Civilian UAS are due to emerge as an early-adopter of highly energy dense, green power solutions like hydrogen, in advance of a revolutionary low-carbon fuel for road vehicles. This project emphasises the benefits to society of the safe use of UAS, and of hydrogen.

The project demonstrates the feasbility of a DC powered workplace in a high profile public demonstration within Arcola - the workplace of both Arcola Energy and Arcola Theatre. Uniquely designed DC-enabled desks will be powered through a network of smart DC grids which will directly draw energy from on-site DC power supplies - solar photovoltaics and hdyrogen fuel cells - with no need for AC conversion. This feasibility study will make Arcola into an urban power station - generating and using its own electricity. Arcola is becoming a cleantech showcase - where technical and non-technical people can interact with innovative technology in a cultural setting. DC powered workplaces and building-wide DC grids make an important innovative contribution to better connected buildings - demonstrating decentralised power management at a building level. This will have the potential to influence future local infrastructure developments, distributed energy grids and low-carbon development. This feasibility study will generate tangible outputs which will be exploited to further expand these areas.

The project is a highly innovative feasibility study which focuses on the zero-carbon society and enhancing the building infrastructure by linking the buildings with the modern zero-carbon vehicles. The feasibility study will be around design and development of concepts regarding how this idea can be transformed into reality. The outcome of this feasibility study will be a) detailed concept of the car as infrastructure concept b) identification of key technological challenges and barriers and development of a technology roadmap, which will be needed to further realise the concept and c) market research of the existing market and supply chains to support this vision and the indication of the market gaps and a detailed SWOT analysis of the car to infrastructure vision in consultation with industry experts. The feasibility will be carried out by one research organisation and two SMEs. Arcola will bring in extensive knowledge in the area of fuel cell integration (e.g. lighting and light vehicles). The High Speed Sustainable Manufacturing Institute (HSSMI) has extensive experience in developing control systems, developing technology roadmaps and design for manufacturing. E4tech will support the project with its extensive knowledge in Innovation management and the development of new business and technological concepts for innovative markets.

The project will assess the feasibility of a solution to the cost, size, efficiency and longevity problems of existing technology for thermal and water management (TWM) of the air (cathode) side of Porous Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC). The aim is to provide low-cost but precise temperature and flow control of air/water/heat flows within the TWM unit. The benefits will be lower cost, size and weight, and improved efficiency, power density and longevity.

World-class fuel cell experts from Imperial College working with new high-growth fuel cell integration company Arcola Energy to extend the lifetime and reliability of fuel cell systems.