Ballard to supply Fuel Cell Modules for Solaris Buses
Ballard Power Systems, a Canadian producer of PEM fuel cell products for heavy vehicles, will supply 10 Ballard FCmove™ fuel cell modules this year to Solaris Bus & Coach S.A., a Polish producer of public transport vehicles. The modules will be used in 10 Fuel Cell Electric Buses in the Netherlands.
The Solaris Urbino 10 hydrogen buses are to be built for Arriva Nederland and will operate in the Province of Gelderland. H2 Bulletin covered this story previously. Each bus is 12-meters long, with 37 seats accommodating 85 passengers. It can travel up to 350 km on a single hydrogen refuelling.
Rob Campbell, Ballard Chief Commercial Operator, said that with these ten buses Ballard modules would be powering 67 Solaris buses in the Netherlands, Germany and Italy.
There is a growing interest in hydrogen buses in Europe and worldwide on the back of adoption for zero-emission Fuel Cell Electric Buses. Hydrogen buses are now benefiting from a range, route flexibility, fast refuelling and scalability of refuelling infrastructure. These benefits then contribute to a competitive total cost of ownership (TCO) compared to other zero-emission bus solutions.
Solaris Bus & Coach first launched its Urbino 12 hydrogen model in June 2019. These buses have been sold to various cities in the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and Italy. However, its home country has not placed any orders so far. Last week, Solaris displayed these buses for promotion display in Polish towns of Jaworzno, Cracow, Konin, Włocławek and Poznań. The promotion event may help the Polish public transport operators to consider the advantages of hydrogen buses.
