Fendt hydrogen tractor on display

The Bavarian State Ministry for Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy in Germany, recently hosted a hydrogen summit. Here, Fendt presented the prototype of its hydrogen tractor for the first time.

Agriculture and forestry are of central importance for the energy transition. This applies to the production and use of energy on farms, just as it does to agricultural machinery. At the hydrogen summit in Straubing, technological potential and practical uses of hydrogen in agriculture and forestry were discussed under the question “Opportunities and possibilities for agriculture and forestry”. The participants came from the fields of science, politics, associations as well as from practice.

“I see hydrogen as a very important solution to problems in agriculture and forestry. Agriculture and forestry can supply a lot of energy, which can also be used to generate hydrogen. Agri-PV plants or wind power generate electricity on agricultural and forestry land and use it to produce hydrogen,” explains Hubert Aiwanger, Bavarian State Minister for Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy.

“Hydrogen from biogas plants or from forest residual wood is also conceivable. The crowning glory, of course, is when farmers themselves use hydrogen for their tractors or agricultural machinery. I hope that Fendt will continue to develop this prototype, because we need these things.”

Together with other partners, Fendt is participating in the H2Agrar agricultural model project in Lower Saxony to research a hydrogen infrastructure for agricultural use. In the model project, prototypes of a hydrogen powered tractor will be used on farms on a regular basis for the first time. To this end, Fendt will deliver its two first-generation prototypes to farms in Haren (Emsland) in Lower Saxony this coming April. The aim of the project is to research and establish an infrastructure for hydrogen for agriculture in the Emsland model region. The project has already won the DLG Agrifuture Concept Award 2022.

Sustainable food production with hydrogen

One of the aims of the research project is to investigate the usability and performance potential of hydrogen for agricultural machinery. To this end, Fendt is developing hydrogen-powered prototype tractors with fuel cells. These will be used under real conditions on two agricultural test farms in the Haren region over the entire project period. Within the project, the hydrogen consumption of the tractors will be determined. At the same time, the technical requirements for a suitable hydrogen infrastructure for agriculture will be researched. These findings will form the basis for further research into reducing CO2 emissions from agricultural vehicles.

About the H2Agrar project

In the joint project H2Agrar and project Green H2 Hub-Haren, the state of Lower Saxony, Germany is funding the development of a hydrogen infrastructure in the Emsland model region. The green hydrogen is produced with the help of green energy from a local citizens’ wind farm. This is to be used primarily in the mobility sector and in agriculture. To this end, an infrastructure with its own filling station park for alternative fuels such as hydrogen, but also e-charging stations, is being built. AGCO/Fendt is working on the project together with CEC Haren GmbH & Co. KG, Röchling Engineering Plastics SE & Co. KG, Braunschweig Technical University and Emden/Leer University of Applied Sciences.