The Mayor of London has today (June 23) launched the first double-decker hydrogen bus fleet with Nel Hydrogen providing a hydrogen refuelling station to support the zero-emission fleet.
The 20 new environmentally friendly buses, believed to be the first of its kind to be launched in the UK, will be introduced on route seven between East Acton and Oxford Circus.
These buses will be supported by Nel Hydrogen and Linesight who have collaborated on delivering a brand-new hydrogen fuelling station situated in West London that will support the fleet with five minute refuel times.
This will help refuel the hydrogen buses situated at Metroline’s Perivale bus depot in Ealing and is expected to be completed imminently.
Passengers riding on the hydrogen buses will benefit from smoother, quieter journeys due to fewer vibrations and will be able to take advantage of free-to-use USB charging points.
The buses have been manufactured by Wrightbus with the hydrogen being produced at Air Liquide’s Runcorn plant, harnessing waste hydrogen as a by-product from an industrial chlor-alkali plant.
Oxford-based Ryze Hydrogen is then responsible for transporting the fuel to the fuelling stations and, from 2023, the hydrogen will be even greener with it being produced by electrolysis powered by a direct connection to an offshore windfarm.
In addition to around £6m ($8.38m) of funding from Transport for London, more than £5m ($7m) of funding has been provided by European bodies – the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking, the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA) as well as £1m ($1.4m) from the Office of Zero Emission Vehicles.
“This is a great demonstration of how tackling air pollution and the climate crisis and boosting economic growth is about regions working together, investing in the very latest technology.
“I’ve worked hard to ensure TfL’s entire core bus fleet across London now meets the ULEZ standards, and this includes 500 electric buses.
“Our new investment in hydrogen buses will move us even closer to our ambition of making all London buses zero-emission by 2030.”
