Stadtwerke Münster (SWM), one of Germany's largest energy and infrastructure companies, has added a hydrogen fuel cell bus to its bus fleet. Electric buses have already been in use in Münster since 2015.
"Our strategy is to convert the entire fleet to electric drives by 2029. This is climate protection in practice and pleases the residents because electric buses are significantly quieter. Depending on the profile of the line, we use electric buses with batteries or fuel cells," explains Frank Gäfgen, Managing Director Mobility at Stadtwerke.
Stadtwerke has already ordered more hydrogen buses, which will arrive in 2021-2022. The company has teamed up with the Oldenburg-based company Buses4Future, which has experience from the Dutch market. The cooperation also allows the innovative start-up to test fuel cell technology's market readiness in real city bus operation.
The bus will be refuelled at the Westfalen Group's public hydrogen refuelling station in Amelsbüren. "The fact that Westfalen has already set up this infrastructure is a real advantage for Münster because it makes it much easier for us to get started," says Frank Gäfgen.
Dr Thomas Perkmann, Managing Director of Westfalen Group, says: "By building our hydrogen refuelling station in 2016, we invested in the future long before the boom. Unfortunately, there are still not enough hydrogen vehicles. We are even more pleased about the commitment of municipal utilities who, together with us, keep taking steps towards the future drives. The deployment of the first hydrogen bus in Münster is the beginning of a path towards more climate neutrality in our region."
Source: Fuel Cells Works
Photo: Karsten Würth on Unsplash