Heliocentris Fuel Cells has signed an agreement with FAUN Umwelttechnik, a provider of disposal vehicles, to develop a hybrid waste disposal vehicle with reduced noise and exhaust emissions for Berliner Stadtreinigung (BSR), a disposal company in Germany.

According to Heliocentris, the new garbage collection vehicle prototype will be powered with an onboard hydrogen-powered fuel cell energy system, which allows diesel engine to be switched off during collection, so that it only has to be used when the vehicle is driving.

In addition, the hybrid vehicle is expected to save up to 3 litres of diesel fuel per hour, which translates to a reduction in diesel consumption of around 30 per cent. It uses an electrical propulsion system with a fuel cell.

The company claims that it will focus on design and integration of the 32 kW fuel cell unit and also the hydrogen tank system as a vehicle subsystem.

In addition, FAUN is supported in the vehicle integration with regard to energy management and safety functions and the BSR in the testing operations.

Heliocentris CEO Henrik Colell said that they are very proud to be able to realise this promising vehicle project in the consortium with the leading companies BSR and FAUN.

Colell said, "This is another important milestone in the implementation of our strategy to position ourselves as a company on the market for energy storage solutions for special vehicles."