Hydrogen bus fleets beset by problems
Aberdeen is among several cities in the UK whose hydrogen buses are reportedly being underutilised, in this instance due to difficulties acquiring the fuel.
It was recently reported that the city council-owned fleet of 25 Wrightbus double-decker fuel-cell buses, which cost approximately £500,000 each, had not turned a wheel in months as operator First Bus had been unable to obtain hydrogen for them.
The buses were funded by the European Union and the Scottish government, but according to the Aberdeen Press & Journal, concerns have been raised that First Bus might consider handing them back to the SNP-run Aberdeen City Council, along with a bill for their diesel replacements.
Hydrogen was initially drawn from a terminal at Kittybrewster, which was built in 2015, and which is said to have generated sufficient quantities to fuel the council’s initial 10 Van Hool single-deck buses. But the site was handed over to the council last year by its operator, and as of April was said to be out of action.
A second terminal at Cove was built in 2017, but it too has reportedly been taken under council control and put out of commission. The council has said that both sites are “ageing plants” in need of “life extension works” to ensure supply can continue to meet the demand of the bus fleet, meaning the Wrightbus vehicles are without fuel while this is ongoing. Meanwhile the council is involved in building a third hydrogen station, where renewable electricity from a solar farm will produce the fuel.
Issues with hydrogen buses are not restricted to Aberdeen. According to a report in The i Paper in May, Liverpool City Region had also been “plagued with problems”, with its hydrogen fleet reportedly out of action since June 2024. A spokesperson for the combined authority cited global hydrogen shortages as having led to initial delays – and said that, while supply had now been secured, technical issues unrelated to the fuel had required the vehicles to undergo testing and upgrade works.
Birmingham was among other authorities said to have faced challenges. Further afield, various hydrogen bus trials have ended in Brussels, Belgium and Germany, and American hydrogen fuel-cell truck manufacturer Nikola filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.
David Cebon, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Cambridge, told the The i Paper that hydrogen trials are “too expensive” and that the “supply is not there”.
“I’ve got a list of 27 failed hydrogen bus projects around the world and it’s just the same story again and again,” he remarked.
