Amey Goes Green With Trials of Hydrogen Vehicles

Amey has become one of the first public service companies in the UK to generate its own hydrogen fuel on site at its Hereford depot, as part of a national trial of hydrogen powered vehicles.

Amey is delivering a 10-year contract for Herefordshire Council, worth up to £290 million which includes providing highways maintenance services, street cleansing, maintaining 11,000 street lights and looking after buildings, fleet and plant. Amey and the council worked in partnership to implement a pioneering service delivery model, which has saved more than £1 million per year and achieved better results.

As part of ongoing efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, Amey has taken part in trials of hydrogen vehicles organised by ITM Power in association with the Technology Strategy Board. ITM designs and manufactures hydrogen energy systems for energy storage and clean fuel production and is currently undertaking HOST, the UK’s largest cross sector hydrogen trial.

The company delivered two hydrogen vehicles and two ISO containers to Amey’s main Hereford depot. The first container holds water which is split into hydrogen and oxygen. The pure hydrogen is channelled into the second container and used to fill up the hydrogen powered vehicles.

Amey used the hydrogen vehicles in exactly the same way it would use its own regular fleet in and around the City. The trial will generate a substantial amount of data about the cars’ performance. ITM Power will then analyse all the information from 21 independent trials to compare the performance of hydrogen and conventional heavy fuel vehicles. The aim is to help develop a business case for the promotion of hydrogen vehicles.

Councillor John Jarvis, Leader of Herefordshire Council, who attended the event, said "It is wonderful that our contracting partners Amey have agreed to be part of this trial and are supporting the council's aims to reduce the county's carbon footprint. It is obviously early days with this technology but I will follow its progress with interest.”

Keith Sexton, HSEA Director for Amey, said: “Amey is proud to be helping with the research and development of hydrogen vehicles.

“Our customers in local authorities are facing severe pressure from Central Government to reduce their emissions and carbon footprint. In addition, Amey has a fleet of more than 4,000 vehicles and fuel makes up about 80% part of our carbon footprint.

“As such we are continually looking for ways to reduce our transport related emissions. In addition to initiatives like fuel efficient driver training, and the roll out of video conferencing facilities, we continue to monitor and support the development of alternative fuelled vehicles.

“The system for hydrogen fuelled vehicles does not produce harmful emissions, provided the electricity is produced using renewable energy or electricity on a green tariff. In addition, unlike other alternatives, hydrogen can be efficiently stored, refuelling the vehicle is quick and simple, and the only substance released into the atmosphere is water.”

Dr Graham Cooley, CEO of ITM Power said: “Amey is a perfect example of the type of organisation we strive to work with at ITM Power. We are delighted to be jointly conducting these hydrogen trials with Amey whose commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility and its drive towards sustainable transport is admirable.” 

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(From L-R) Keith Sexton, Amey HSEA Director , joins Stephen Hallett, Hydrogen Applications Engineer for ITM Power and John Jarvis, the new leader of Hereford Council.

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