Barcelona switches to urban transport powered by hydrogen

Vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells are very scarce. You can count on the fingers of one hand the models that use this type of fuel, and there are not high expectations that they will become a standard in the automotive industry in the short or medium term. But small steps are being taken to help them gain popularity, and in Barcelona one quite important step has been taken.

The Catalan capital will have a hydrogen station, that is, a plant to supply hydrogen to vehicles that use this fuel, and it will be the first in all of Spain to be open to the public. In other words, a service station open to everyone so that users of these vehicles can refuel without problems.

It will be a plant occupying 5,000 square metres and located in the Zona Franca of Barcelona. Construction of the plant will be carried out by Iberdrola, which will be the company responsible for managing the plant for 10 years, with extensions of five years up to a total of 40 years. The main user of this plant will be the company Transportes Metropolitanos de Barcelona (TMB).

The cost for the public transport company will be 14.5 million euros during those first 10 years. In addition to the company’s fuel cell buses, other vehicles from company fleets in the Zona Franca and private users will also be able to access the station.

Barcelona has recently acquired eight buses powered by a hydrogen-fuelled fuel cell, which will enter service at the end of 2021 and which will have an approximate consumption of 160 kg of hydrogen per day. But these eight units are the first of a much broader bus fleet modernisation plan, as it is expected that 80 buses with these characteristics will be reached within a few years.

The buses powered by a hydrogen fuel cell are a good solution to mitigate the effects of pollution in the city, since the only waste they produce is water vapour. It is a good solution for clean urban transport, as a fleet of these characteristics will have no negative effects on citizens’ health.