Schiphol is the first major international airport in the world to launch a pilot involving the use of hydrogen-powered vehicles on the airport grounds. This pilot involves a specially developed aircraft tow vehicle and a prototype of a Toyota pick-up truck with an electric engine powered by hydrogen. Schiphol also has its own temporary hydrogen refueling station to supply these vehicles with hydrogen. With this pilot, the airport is taking an important step towards emission-free ground operations by 2030.
During the pilot, the vehicles will be used in daily operations at the airport. Several times a day, the hydrogen-powered aircraft tractor will tow a KLM Boeing 737 between the aircraft parking areas, hangars, taxiways and gates. The pick-up truck will be used by Bird Control, the team responsible for keeping birds away from runways.
Royal Schiphol Group and its partners are investigating the practical applicability of hydrogen vehicles, including ease of use, reliable range and integration into the existing infrastructure. A successful test with an H2 GPU, a hydrogen-powered ground power unit, was previously conducted at Schiphol. The GPU supplies stationary aircraft with emission-free power.
The pilot will run until the beginning of October and is part of the TULIPS programme, made possible in part by a grant from the European Union. This is Royal Schiphol Group’s sustainable innovation programme in which new concepts are developed and demonstrated. Schiphol works closely with partners such as KLM, Rotterdam The Hague Airport, Torino Airport, Hermes Airports, Port of Amsterdam, research institutes such as TNO and SINTEF and companies such as TLD, Zepp.solutions, HyCC, Air Products and Ballard.
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Full press release https://news.schiphol.com
