Monday 13 February 2023

Plans revealed to power 300 hydrogen buses in NI

Wrightbus has announced plans to build a facility in Ballymena, which would produce enough green energy to power 300 hydrogen buses each day in Northern Ireland.

Planning permission is yet to be granted for the project with Hygen Energy – with an answer expected in the forthcoming winter.

With Wrightbus having previously put the world’s first fleet of hydrogen-powered double-decker buses onto roads in 2020, it is now looking to increase its fleet.

This hydrogen production facility will use renewable electricity to separate water into oxygen and hydrogen – without producing carbon emissions.

Jo Bamford, Chairman, said: “Hydrogen is the best means of decarbonising many bus routes – but for this to happen bus operators need a reliable and voluminous supply of low cost low carbon hydrogen. It is great to see a project that is being sized to enable future demand for hydrogen here in Northern Ireland to be met.

“This project will initially be able to produce enough hydrogen to run up to 300 buses and has the potential to triple in scale as demand for hydrogen increases. We hope it will set an example for how these projects will be designed and built.”