South Tyrol

The region of South Tyrol is one of Italy’s richest, a mountainous region in the north of the country. The region is home to 485,000 people and 58,000 companies.

The region is represented by the technical Institute for Innovative Technologies (IIT) in Bozen. IIT is a public private partnership, with shareholding from the local utility, highways agency, local municipality and others.

The region’s electricity supply is primarily from hydropower, which allows low CO2 hydrogen generation through electrolysis.
The proposal is to install a 240 Nm3/hour electrolyser to fuel vehicles. The refuelling project is funded and in the detailed planning stages.

The region will operate H2ICE vehicles in 2010 fuelled from the electrolyser based filling system. From 2010, the intention is to operate fuel cell buses due to higher efficiencies.

The municipality is also very interested in the prospect of mixing hydrogen with CNG, to improve the efficiency of combustion and reduce emissions (typically a 10-20% hydrogen blend is used).

Rendering of the new hydrogen production site