New Bin Lorries Boost Fife’s Clean Energy Credentials

An innovative green hydrogen project in Levenmouth has marked a major milestone after Fife Council awarded a contract worth around £1.5million for the supply of nine refuse collection vehicles (RCV).
Two of the vehicles are to be converted to run on diesel and hydrogen which is believed to be a world-first of their kind. They will also become part of Levenmouth Community Energy Project, a pioneering development that aims to position the region as a global leader in clean energy through developing the Hydrogen Office in Methil into a world-class demonstrator of hydrogen applications generated from renewable sources.

Residents in the wider Fife region will also benefit from Council’s contract award to Inverkeithing-based RCV manufacturer, Heil Farid, as the fleet of nine vehicles mean quieter refuse collections and significantly reduces carbon emissions as well as benefitting the air quality for local communities. This is because they are fitted with power take offs and dual-fuel technology that both reduces noise and improves fuel efficiency during driving as well as loading and packing.

The contract award further underpins the success of Fife business Heil Farid, which is part of one of the largest European manufacturers of waste management equipments - the Farid European Group.
The partners behind Levenmouth Community Energy Project, which is led by Bright Green Hydrogen and includes Fife Council as one of the consortium members, today welcomed the news by saying it represented a key step forward for the development.

George Archibald, chief executive at Bright Green Hydrogen said: “As part of the partners’ vision for the project, Levenmouth will become home to one of Europe’s largest fleet of hydrogen dual-fuel vehicles (up to 25) and this includes the refuse collection vehicles. Therefore, this is a sign of real progress especially when you consider that it was only three months ago that the project was kick started thanks to the award of Government funding.

The new RCVs will replace older, front line vehicles therefore there will be no increase in Fife Council’s fleet of RCVs. They will operate from 6am to 9pm Monday to Friday.

To read the full article, please click here to visit the Invest in Fife website.