Barcelona receives the first of a fleet of latest-generation hydrogen buses

It is called the H2 City Gold LHD, and it is manufactured by CaetanoBus, a Portuguese bus manufacturer that belongs to Toyota Caetano Portugal and Mitsui & Co. This company will supply a fleet of eight hydrogen buses to Transportes Metropolitanos de Barcelona (TMB). The first of them is already prepared to enter service on the streets of the Catalan capital on TMB’s regular lines during 2022, once the fleet registration process is complete, for which it is first necessary to pass a testing phase without passengers.

With fuel cell technology from Toyota

From the outside it looks like a conventional bus, with its 12 metres of length and up to three access doors. But thanks to its hydrogen fuel cell technology, the only thing it emits from the exhaust is water vapour. Just like the Toyota Mirai. In the case of the H2 City Gold LHD, the fuel cell’s output is 60 kW (about 81 CV), and it runs on hydrogen stored in five tanks with a total capacity of 37.5 kg.

The estimate is that the bus needs about 20 kg of hydrogen per day, so it could complete a full working day without refuelling. Refuelling will take place at the new hydrogen station in Zona Franca de Barcelona, located very close to the depots where the buses are centralised. The launch of what will be the first green hydrogen plant in Spain, owned by Iberdrola, is being driven by TMB itself. The goal is for it to also be able to supply hydrogen to other fleets.