Arriva Netherlands has placed an order for ten hydrogen-fuelled buses from Solaris Bus & Coach for €6.4mn ($7.78mn). The Dutch-based subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn’s public transport company Arriva will start operating the buses in 2022 in the eastern province of Gelderland. The buses are expected to jointly drive more than 1mn km annually.

Arriva and the province of Gelderland are planning to build a hydrogen fuelling station by December, in either the city of Doetinchem or Groenlo, which will fuel Arriva’s new buses. “The intention is to open the fuelling station to the public in the long term,” the company says.

Solaris Bus & Coach, part of Spanish train maker CAF, will supply the ten Urbino12 hydrogen buses in December. The buses hold roof-mounted hydrogen tanks with a volume of 1,560l and can transport 85 people.

€148,000 – Jive2 incentive per hydrogen bus purchase

 Arriva Netherlands will finance the purchase of the buses with the help of funds from the European Union’s Joint Initiative For Hydrogen Vehicles Across Europe (Jive2) progamme as well as regional and national funds, the company says. The Jive2 initiative has made €148,000 available per hydrogen bus purchase.

Like many European countries, the Netherlands has ambitious hydrogen targets, including goals for the transport sector. By 2025, the Netherlands wants to have 50 hydrogen fuelling stations in place and 3,000 heavy vehicles and 15,000 cars running on fuel cells.

Arriva Netherlands has its own ambition to become CO₂-neutral in 2025 and the largest cut in CO₂-emissions will come from using cleaner buses and trains, the company says.

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Author: Karolin Schaps