On Monday, 17 June 2024, the starting signal was given for a major project in Luxembourg. It goes by the name of “LuxHyVal” (Luxembourg Hydrogen Valley).
Hydrogen buses are to be used on routes in the south-west of the country from 2026. The private company Sales-Lentz from Bascharage and the municipal transport company TICE (Transports Intercommunaux dans le Canton d’ Esch) from Esch sur Alzette, the country’s second largest city, are involved.
Sales-Lentz is not only one of the two largest (private) bus companies in Luxembourg, but also one of the largest (private) bus companies in Europe, which has long had subsidiaries outside Luxembourg’s borders. For example, the Belgian company “Voyages Léonard”. And if you are travelling around Germany’s oldest city, Trier, you can hop on a Sales-Lentz bus.
TICE is one of the country’s three public transport companies, alongside the “Autobus de la Ville de Luxembourg (AVL)” and the state railway CFL (Chemins der Fer Luxembourgeois).
As part of the “LuxHyVal” project, the energy supplier Enveco will build a 6 megawatt electrolyser in the industrial park in Bascharage, which will produce 1,750 kilograms of green hydrogen per day not only for use in transport but also in industry. At the presentation of the plans, Luxembourg’s Minister of the Economy, Lex Delles, emphasised that the LuxHyVal project will switch from imported hydrogen produced using fossil fuels to green hydrogen produced in the country itself. In future, 10% of bus services nationwide are to be provided with this type of drive.
A hydrogen bus of the type “eATA 12 hydrogen” from the Turkish manufacturer Karsan was on hand to present the LuxHyVal project.
