Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) has purchased eight hydrogen fuel cell buses for a total of EUR 6.4 million, which will be the first to be used for regular service on an urban network in Spain.
In a statement, TMB, which has awarded the tender to supply the eight buses to Portuguese manufacturer Caetano Bus, stressed that this acquisition is part of its strategy to modernise and decarbonise its fleet.
The buses acquired will arrive in Barcelona in November 2021 and are expected to enter service in early 2022.
The president of TMB, Rosa Alarcón, said, 'As a company with a vocation for leadership, we are committed to innovation and the fight against pollution in cities, to achieve cleaner mobility for the future. In this sense, TMB must always be at the forefront of sustainable and efficient mobility, which is why today we are taking another step in improving the fleet with this purchase of eco-friendly buses. We are not limited to purchasing vehicles. We are also committed to enhancing the infrastructure needed to promote this type of energy with measures such as the construction of a hydrogen station'.
TMB stressed that the only by-product of the fuel cell reaction used by these buses is water, which is expelled in the form of steam from the exhaust pipe.
The eight buses acquired will be of the 12-metre long H2.City Gold model from Caetano. A Toyota 60-kilowatt fuel cell is used in this vehicle.
The manufacturer estimates a daily consumption of 20 kilos of hydrogen and a range of 300 kilometres.
