The project development team needs to develop a good understanding of the market and its key players
- Provide partners with a list of main stakeholders on the supply side and talk to them in advance of any planning:
- Active bus OEMs commercialising fuel cell buses and a description of their products (such as Van Hool, Solaris, EvoBus, VDL)
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Key hydrogen infrastructure and component providers and a description of their products (such as Linde, Air Products, Air Liquide, Shell, H2 Logic, McPhy, ITM Power, Siemens)
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Fuel cell systems manufacturers and a description of their products (such as Ballard, Hydrogenics, Intelligent Energy)
- The project team should consider the opportunity of initiating dialogue with the bus OEMs and components providers to develop ‘tailored’ bus or infrastructure solutions i.e. better suited to their needs
- The team should also understand the level of service which can be provided by the technology suppliers to ensure a successful operation and secure adequate aftersales service (e.g. maintenance costs, location of the spare parts service centres, level of on-site support from technicians, response times to major technical or component failures, etc.)
