Regionalverkehr Koln GmbH (RVK) has recently placed an order for 15 hydrogen-powered fuel cell hybrid buses from Solaris Bus & Coach SA. From 2021, these vehicles will be successively integrated into the RVK fleet.
The buses will be purchased as part of the EU project JIVE 2 and funded by the “Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking” (FCH JU), the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) via the NIP2 program and the Ministry of Transport of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.
The Europe-wide tender for the buses was carried out jointly with Wuppertaler Stadtwerke GmbH, as with the previous order. The joint procurement made it possible to meet the maximum price set by the sponsor per bus of 625,000 euros.
A total of three discussable offers were submitted as part of the tender. The winning bid went to Solaris.
With the commissioning of the other buses towards the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022, the company will have a total of 52 hydrogen-operated fuel cell buses, which are the largest fleet of hydrogen-operated fuel cell hybrid buses in Europe today.
“Thanks to the subsidies and the approval of our owners, we are making great strides towards converting the bus fleet and infrastructure across locations. This is currently unique in this dimension, ”says RVK Managing Director Eugen Puderbach.
Pioneer in climate protection
The RVK began testing fuel cell technology in regular transport back in 2011. After the test operation of two prototypes, two pre-series vehicles were used in 2014 and the start of 35 Van Hool A330 FC series vehicles since the end of 2019 or the first half of 2020. The construction of two hydrogen filling stations in the RVK traffic area is nearing completion.
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