Everfuel, Wrightbus, Ballard Power Systems, Hexagon Composites, Nel Hydrogen and Ryse Hydrogen are joining forces to form the H2Bus Consortium.
The members are committed to deploying 1,000 hydrogen fuel cell electric buses, along with supporting infrastructure, in European cities at “commercially competitive rates”: a single-decker bus price below EUR 375,000, a hydrogen price between EUR 5 and EUR 7 per kilogram, and a service cost of EUR 0.30 per kilometer.
The first phase of the project, totaling 600 buses, is supported by EUR 40 million from the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility. The funding will enable the deployment of 200 hydrogen fuel cell electric buses and supporting infrastructure in each of Denmark, Latvia and the U.K. by 2023.
Hexagon says two of its businesses – Agility Fuel Solutions and Hexagon Purus – will provide hydrogen fuel solutions.
“For decades, we have supplied compressed natural gas fuel systems to European and North American bus manufacturers in various commercial vehicle applications. We’re pleased to apply our experience and capabilities to deliver hydrogen fuel systems into a project of significant magnitude,” says Seung Baik, president of Agility Fuel Solutions, which is headquartered in Costa Mesa, Calif. “Where public transport fleets have requirements for long driving range, we believe there is significant potential for hydrogen to play a key role in the zero-emission mobility future.”
In addition, Wrightbus will integrate Ballard’s eighth-generation heavy-duty power module – called FCmove – into H2Bus Consortium buses.
“The H2Bus consortium is a very exciting development in the deployment of zero-emission fuel cell electric buses across Europe,” comments Randy MacEwen, president and CEO of Ballard, which is based out of British Columbia.
Photo: Hax0rw4ng [Public domain]
