New Zealand’s first hydrogen fuel cell bus, capable of being refuelled with green hydrogen, was unveiled on Tuesday (30th March) as Auckland Transport (AT) looks to decarbonise its fleet of public transport.

Auckland Transport commissioned the production of the hydrogen fuel cell bus at the cost of $1.175m.

The bus, built by Global Bus Ventures (GBV) in Christchurch, New Zealand, will provide capacity for up to 78 passengers and will be operated with Howick and Eastern Buses by Transdev for an initial two-year trial on route 70 from Botany to Britomart via Panmure.

The new fuel cell bus will be directly compared to AT’s biggest single deck bus, the three-axle bus, to compare operational performance and operating costs between electric and diesel buses.

Phil Goff, Mayor for Auckland, said, “While our focus has been on electrification of vehicles and buses, it is important that we also explore the option of replacing diesel buses with hydrogen-powered vehicles.”

“These produce zero-emissions and could complement our electric bus fleet.

It is believed that AT’s involvement in purchasing the hydrogen bus was to showcase to the market that hydrogen buses can be utilised in New Zealand to cater for the growing need to decarbonise the transportation sector.

Tony Gibson, Port of Auckland Chief Executive, highlighted the refuelling of green hydrogen aspect, “Refuelling in the future will be done next to a new electrolyser plant – producing green hydrogen here on site.”

It is estimated that the cost of the full transition to zero-emission (including EV and hydrogen) is expected to cost between $150m to $200m.

This article is reproduced at www.h2-view.com