The Municipality of Bologna has sent to the Ministry of Infrastructures and Sustainable Mobility the "papers" to access the financing for the purchase of 127 hydrogen-powered buses.
The first 34 vehicles will arrive in December 2024 and the others in June 2026.
The Municipality of Venice will have more than EUR 87 million to purchase 106 hydrogen-powered and 33 electric vehicles for local public transport and build the relevant infrastructure. The funds will be made available through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRP), setting a clear timeframe for implementing the projects. The investment is to be completed by 30 June 2026, with an obligatory intermediate step involving the purchase and commissioning of 33 of these new vehicles by the end of 2024.
On 17-18 November 2021, the fourth edition of the European Zero Emission Bus (ZEB) Conference took place in Paris. With a world-leading Climate Action Plan, underpinned by the international Paris Agreement and national commitment towards a fully decarbonised economy by 2050, Paris provided the perfect venue for ZEB 2021. This conference aims to accelerate the adoption of zero-emission vehicles, sharing information and experiences and offering guidance on the procurement and financing of new fleets.
On 28 October 2021, a large fire broke out in a depot of the transport company Arriva in Doetinchem, in the Dutch province of Gelderland. An investigation by local and regional safety authorities is underway to determine the cause of the fire. A diesel and a hydrogen fuel cell electric bus were in the maintenance building, which was destroyed in the fire. Firefighters and police reported that there were no casualties or injuries. "Unfortunately, the brand-new hydrogen bus has burned down," said an Arriva spokesperson.
The German transport operator ESWE Verkehr officially took delivery of its first Caetano hydrogen fuel cell bus on 5 October 2021. By the end of December 2021, nine fuel cell buses from Portugal will be delivered to Wiesbaden. The mobility service provider has thus reached the next milestone in its corporate history.
Birmingham City Council has unveiled the first of its 20 new hydrogen buses, which will be in operation later this year.
On Tuesday, 29 June, several high-level speakers from different sectors met to discuss the deployment of fuel cell buses (FCBs) and their associated infrastructure. The event was attended by a diverse audience of 150 participants, with a significant presence of Spanish operators and some Latin American attendees.
Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London. © Transport for London
On Friday, 11 June 2021, a new hydrogen refuelling station (HRS) opened at the Qbuzz bus depot in Groningen. In addition, twenty new VanHool hydrogen buses were presented. This fleet was partly funded by the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) under the JIVE 2 project.
Two cities, Aberdeen (Scotland) and Pau (France), were brought together on Thursday 22nd April to present and discuss their experience of deploying fuel cell buses and their associated infrastructure. A diverse audience of over 100 attendees heard from these two ‘early movers’ about the great benefits that hydrogen brings for local energy system decarbonisation, as well as the practicalities of operating the vehicles and the infrastructure.
