Stef Group, a European transport and logistics services provider for temperature-controlled food products, has introduced hydrogen-powered forklifts and hydrogen fuel cell solutions at a site in France and another in Spain.

The forklifts will be supplied by Toyota Material Handling Europe and provider of end-to-end hydrogen solutions Plug Power.

The first hydrogen solution will be installed at a transport platform in Athis-Mons close to Paris, and the second at a logistics warehouse in Torrejón de Ardoz, near Madrid.

“This initiative marks a significant step towards developing a comprehensive hydrogen ecosystem that integrates H2 production and H2-powered material handling equipment,” Stef Group states. “The project in France uses green H2 produced with renewable energy and delivered on site.

“In Spain, the H2 is produced on site using an electrolyser - a device that uses electricity to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen. The electricity to power the electrolyser is generated by the 2.9 MWp photovoltaic rooftop plant, enabling consumption of green and locally produced Hydrogen.”

Stef says it can potentially improve its forklift operational productivity by using hydrogen fuel cell technology which it believes “offers particularly good performance under Stef’s operating conditions (from -18° to +4°)”.

On average, a hydrogen fuel cell lasts 10 years, twice as long as traditional batteries. Contributing to reducing the environmental impact across the product lifecycle. 

Hydrogen-powered forklifts also have the benefit of being able to be re-filled in less than three minutes, reducing the risk of accidents associated with lead-acid battery change.

These two projects are part of Stef’s Moving Green climate initiative which has the objective to use 100% low-carbon energy in its building by the end of 2025.