During the course of the next few weeks, Bielefeld’s public transport company moBiel will be putting the first nine of a total of 25 new fuel cell buses into operation. The vehicles, which include eight 12-meter buses and seventeen 18-meter (articulated) eCitaro Fuelcell buses, can be powered by both hydrogen and electricity. They each have a range of over 400 kilometers, making them easy to use on all scheduled routes in the bus network.
High CO2 savings
The current moBiel fleet comprises 132 vehicles, 29 of which will run on hydrogen in the future. “For us, fuel cell technology is a means of actively shaping the mobility transition. It enables us to make public transport in Bielefeld efficient and emission-free,” says Martin Uekmann, Managing Director of moBiel and the municipal utility company. Four zero-emission vehicles have been on the roads since mid-2022. With the new buses, the company can save 2,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.
Funding support provided by the BMDV
The project is funded by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV– Bundesministrium für Digitales und Verkehr) with a total of 8.7 million euros as part of the funding guideline for alternative drives for buses in passenger transport. Funding support for this measure is also being provided as part of the German Recovery and Resilience Plan (DARP – Deutscher Aufbau- und Resilienzplan) via the European Recovery and Resilience Facilities (ARF – Europäische Aufbau- und Resilienzfazilitäten) in the NextGenerationEU program. The funding guideline is coordinated by NOW GmbH and implemented by the project management organization Jülich (PtJ). The additional costs compared to diesel buses were funded at 80 percent.
“With these funds, we seek to provide targeted support to the state’s transport companies and help them meet the challenges on the journey towards even greater climate protection,” says Oliver Hoch of NOW GmbH, which coordinates the funding for the Federal Ministry.
Innovation park is growing
The fuel cell buses also require a correspondingly modern infrastructure. This is being developed in the innovation park for sector coupling. Starting as early as this summer, all 25 new fuel cell buses will be effectively fueled and accommodated there. In the coming months, a further parking facility with particularly powerful charging stations will be added to the existing facilities. In addition, an electrolyzer is being planned with which the Bielefeld municipal utility group will produce hydrogen itself – utlising, among other things, electricity generated by the neighboring waste incineration plant.
Pictured (from left to right): Arne Petersen (Managing Director, moBiel), Ralf Schönenberg (Head of Vehicles at moBiel), Dominic Hallau (Chairperson of the Supervisory Board, moBiel), Rainer Müller (Managing Director, Stadtwerke Bielefeld), Wiebke Esdar (Chairperson of the Supervisory Board, Stadtwerke Bielefeld), Martin Uekmann (Managing Director, moBiel and Stadtwerke Bielefeld) and Oliver Hoch (NOW GmbH). | Photo credit: moBiel/Lisa Teichler
Source: moBiel