The Polish manufacturer Solaris has won contracts for fuel-cell hydrogen buses in Southern Europe for a total of 256 buses plus further options. This includes the largest hydrogen bus order so far: 130 vehicles for the municipal public transport operator TPER Bologna. The delivery will encompass 127 units of 12-metre Urbino 12 hydrogen buses for TPER Bologna and 3 units for TPER Ferrara. The carrier shall also have the right to extend the order by an additional 140 vehicles as an option which would bring the total to an impressive 270 vehicles! As early as in 2024 the first batch of 37 hydrogen units will be delivered, the remainder of the fix order will follow in 2025 and 2026.
Each bus will feature an innovative hydrogen system that fulfils the highest safety standards. The 70 kW fuel cell will derive hydrogen from five composite tanks placed on the bus roof. With the full tanks that can hold 37.5 kg of hydrogen, the bus will be able to cover about 350 km.
The transport company Azienda Veneziana della Mobilita (AVN) has ordered a total of 90 hydrogen Solaris buses, with 75 of them being the 12-meter version and 15 being articulated buses “Urbino 18 hydrogen”. The contract for Venice also includes an option to increase the order quantity, which could mean an additional order of 13 twelve-meter buses and 5 articulated versions.
According to the agreement, these vehicles will be delivered to Venice gradually, starting from November 2025, and the deliveries will be completed in the first weeks of 2026. Four hydrogen-powered Urbino 12 (plus 30 battery electric Solaris) are already operating in and around Venice.
In Catalonia in North-Western Spain, Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) has just announced the award of 36 hydrogen buses to the company Solaris Bus Ibérica of the type Urbino 12 hydrogen for a total of 23,396,400 euros, financed with funds from the Ministerio de Transporte, Movilidad y Agenda Urbana within the framework of the Plan de Recuperación, Transformación y Resiliencia – Next Generation. Delivery is scheduled for 2024. TMB will thus have a total of 232 battery electric buses and 44 hydrogen buses in operation by the end of 2024.
