One of the organisations that SEAC visited recently is the Instituto Tecnológico de Aragón (ITA) in Zaragoza, Spain, which is currently working with ANMOPYC (the Spanish Manufacturers Association of Construction and Mining Equipment) to develop zero-emission heavy equipment powered by hydrogen. 

ITA is a public, non-profit technology centre attached to the Department of Presidency, Economy and Justice of the Government of Aragon, whose mission is to contribute to the technological development of companies and increase their competitiveness.

Established in 1984, ITA today has a multidisciplinary team of about 300 people, involved in five areas: clean energy, digital agribusiness, efficient and circular industry, intelligent health, and sustainable mobility. Their expertise includes materials and components, mechatronics and robotics, electrical technologies, and digital technologies.

The development of zero-emission heavy equipment using hydrogen – named ‘H2MAC’ – is among ITA’s latest projects under sustainable mobility. It is carried out in partnership with ANMOPYC and several other companies, including FHa (the Aragon hydrogen foundation), Ballard, ZB Group, Mann+Hummel, Hidromek and the Tampere University, as part of a consortium.

The H2MAC project aims to design and demonstrate a new modular and scalable hydrogen-fuel cell electric (FCE) powertrain concept in non-road mobile machinery (NRMM) for construction and mining applications. An excavator and a crusher will be developed to integrate the new FCE powertrain and related subsystems.

During the last stage of the project (scheduled for 2027), the two machines will be tested under real working conditions for 1,000 hours in a single real-world environment.

When completed, the H2MAC project is expected to set a robust basis for the future development of NRMMs (from production lines to commercial products), as well as providing insights with respect to requirements for refuelling stations, through this simultaneous demonstration which will build confidence in hydrogen fuel cell technology and supply chain for all of the off-road industry sectors and thus accelerate their uptake.

Note: SEAC visited ITA in June 2024, as part of a press event organised by ANMOPYC in collaboration with ICEX (the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade). This story has also been published in the Sept/Oct 2024 issue of SEAC. Click here to read it online or here to download the PDF file, on page 53.