Ballard Power Systems, a provider of clean fuel cell power modules, has signed an equipment supply agreement with Solaris Bus and Coach for delivery of two zero emission fuel cell power modules to be used in buses planned for deployment in Hamburg, Germany.
This contract further validates the growing interest in the deployment of zero emission fuel cell buses in Europe.
Delivery of Ballard’s next-generation FCvelocity-HD7 power modules to Solaris is planned for later this year.
Solaris Bus & Coach, based in Poland, is one of the leading players in the European bus industry. The company manufactures intracity, intercity and special-purpose buses as well as low-floor trams.
Since starting production in 1996, over 10,000 Solaris vehicles have been deployed in 28 countries, including Poland, Germany,
Ballard’s fuel cell power modules will be utilized as range extenders, in combination with batteries, in Solaris electric bus platforms. The FCvelocity-HD7 modules offer improved durability, reliability together with significant cost reduction in comparison to the previous generation product.
Günter Elste, CEO of Hamburger Hochbahn, says, “It is Hamburg’s challenging goal as of 2020 not to buy any conventional diesel buses anymore. During the CUTE and HyFLEET/CUTE programs there was already a successful collaboration with Ballard, which we will now continue.”
Ballard’s current generation fuel cell power module has been delivering a high level of performance in European buses. In 2013, for example, Ballard fuel cell modules delivered greater than 97 percent availability in buses currently operating in the cities of London and Amsterdam.