TMB orders 36 hydrogen buses for Barcelona

In the Spanish city of Barcelona, Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) has awarded Solaris the contract to provide the city with 36 new hydrogen fuel cell buses for a sum 23 million euros.

The purchase of 36 hydrogen buses from Solaris for Barcelona was financed with funds granted by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and the Urban Agenda, as part of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan – Next Generation. The tender for both hydrogen electric and purely battery electric buses was launched in July this year.

TMB says the new fuel cell buses are “standard hydrogen buses”, which presumably means the Solaris Urbino 12 Hydrogen. The model has a fuel cell with 70 kW power and can carry up to 1,560 litres of hydrogen in its tanks, which enables a range of 350 kilometres. The hydrogen fuelled electric buses are also equipped with a “relatively small Solaris high-performance traction battery” that supports the fuel cell during times of peak power demand.

Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) has increased the share of locally emission-free buses in its fleet to 25 percent by 2024. The public transport provider points out that this acquisition, significantly increases the number of hydrogen vehicles in the fleet. There are currently eight already in service on line X1, and TMB says the new order underlines its commitment to hydrogen fuel cell buses.

TMB sees itself as a a pioneer in the use of hydrogen, with the first fuel cell bus put into public transport service for the first time in Spain in April 2022. The TMB and Iberdrola plant producing hydrogen for the buses was the first hydrogen plant for public use in Spain.

The public transport operator is not investing exclusively in hydrogen technology. Large investments have also been made in electric vehicles for its fleet, in line with the TMB’s Strategic Plan 2025. A total of 88 electric night buses, made up of 68 solo and 20 articulated electric buses will be put into operation between the end of this year and the beginning of 2024, with an investment of around 50 million euros.

The new purchases mark investments that will reach almost 410 million euros in the purchase of net energy vehicles by 2026. The public transport provider says this “will be the most important investment in the history of TMB in the bus fleet.”

Only a few days ago, Solaris announced another major order for hydrogen fuel cell buses from Italy. The Italian public transport operator Trasporto Passeggeri Emilia-Romagna (TPER) ordered 130 Solaris Urbino 12 Hydrogen. The first 37 of the 130 hydrogen buses on firm order are to be delivered in 2024, the rest in 2025 and 2026. Another 90 H2 buses will go to Venice.

tmb.cat (in Catalan)