Catagen, Terex and WrightBus have been awarded £6.27 million of funding to decarbonise heavy-duty machinery offering a robust solution for the industry.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero provided the funding through phase two of the Red Diesel Programme, which is part of a £8.1m project to decarbonize non-road mobile machinery.

Creating 15 highly skilled jobs in Northern Ireland, this project is being used to reduce emissions globally.

Amanda Solloway, the Minister for Energy Consumers and Affordability said: "As we continue towards our goal of reaching net zero by 2050, we want to ensure businesses have all the support they need to power our transition to a cleaner, cheaper energy system. Our funding will support ground-breaking projects in malting, construction and manufacturing so businesses can incorporate green energy into their day-to-day operations."

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By 2025, a quarry site in Northern Ireland will have a demonstration of a decarbonized end-to-end Terex crusher and screen. This piece of machinery will be powered by green hydrogen and e-diesel, specifically using Catagen's ClimaHtech e-fuel gen and compressor technology. Wrightbus is also supporting the development of a mobile hydrogen refueller.

Through this project the Terex crusher and screen will evolve for improved energy efficiency.

This project aims to develop this solution to pre-production rediness level and demonstrate the full systems' approach at two sites in 2025.

David Trimble, Group Engineering Director at Terex said: "This project builds on the success of CATAGEN and Terex’s Phase 1 projects to now demonstrate an end-to-end solution for the decarbonisation of Terex crushing and screening equipment through driveline efficiency improvements and displacement of fossil diesel with e-diesel and green hydrogen. The main aim is to produce a robust set of equipment for the quarrying and recycling industries with net zero carbon emissions and a significant reduction in all engine emissions."

Dr Andy Harris, Advanced Engineering Manager at Wrightbus said: "We are delighted to be involved with this highly innovative project with fellow leaders in Northern Ireland's low/zero-emission industry, supporting the development of a mobile hydrogen refueler for off-highway demonstrations. Having developed the World’s First Hydrogen Double-Deck Bus, Wrightbus are well-placed to aid in knowledge transfer to adjacent sectors and lessons learned will be key to developing a sustainable decarbonisation roadmap for the entire transport industry."