Oct 22 (LNGJ) - Societa Nazionale Metanodotti (Snam), the Italian natural gas grid operator with two of Italy's LNG import terminals in its portfolio, has signed an accord on switching Italian rail network trains from diesel to hydrogen, a fuel rival to LNG. The Snam memorandum of understanding was signed with Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane SpA, a state-owned holding company that manages infrastructure and services on the Italian rail network.
Snam and FS Italiane plan to evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of hydrogen rail transport in Italy. “With this agreement, we are taking an important step in promoting a hydrogen value chain in Italy starting from sectors that are crucial for decarbonisation such as the transport of people and goods,” said Snam's Chief Executive Marco Alverà. “Thanks to the collaboration between FS Italiane and Snam, we aim to create infrastructure to rapidly convert trains currently powered by diesel in Italy to hydrogen, thus gaining a technological leadership to be capitalized on also at an international level,” added the Snam CEO.
