Bielefeld’s municipal transport operator “moBiel” receives funding from the Federal government for the purchase of further fuel cell buses. Secretary of State Michael Theurer Federal Ministry of Digital Affairs and Transport handed over the grant in the amount of 8.7 million euros on Tuesday, 28 March 2023.
Four fuel cell buses have already been operating on the first (trial) route between Baderbach and Schildhof (line 29) for one year. We reported here about the details:
https://www.urban-transport-magazine.com/en/hydrogen-in-bielefeld-the-new-h2-city-gold-buses/
moBiel is convinced of the technology and had therefore submitted a funding application to the Ministry for the next 25 climate-friendly vehicles in 2022. “Fuel cell technology is a milestone in the fight against climate change. It is well suited to making transport as efficient and low-emission as possible. Thanks to the funding, we can significantly increase the share of fuel cells in our vehicle fleet,” says moBiel Managing Director Martin Uekmann.
80 percent of the additional costs compared to diesel buses will be subsidised. moBiel expects its own costs to total a good ten million euros for the 25 fuel cell buses. The project is funded under the Bus Funding Guideline of the Federal Ministry of Digital Affairs and Transport. The funding guideline is coordinated by NOWGmbH and implemented by Project Management Jülich.
The tender for the 25 fuel cell buses will be issued shortly. They could be on the road on inner-city routes in Bielefeld in the first half of 2025. The fleet currently consists of 132 vehicles. The 29 hydrogen buses would then make up 20 percent. All other diesel buses have the Euro VI emission standard, and 40 per cent of the fleet are now hybrid buses.
The hydrogen filling station
The existing four fuel cell buses are refuelled at the Innovation Park “Sector Coupling”. A further filling station is planned there. Currently, the tanks are designed for 1000 kilogrammes of hydrogen and are supplied by tanker trucks. Currently, about 100 kilogrammes of hydrogen can be refuelled per day; later, a refuelling of 400 kilogrammes per day will be possible. By comparison, a normal public hydrogen filling station currently dispenses about five kilograms per day.
(Info: moBiel)
