The project consortium aims to facilitate the deployment of fuel cell electric buses and hydrogen refuelling infrastructure in European cities.
Project coordinator Flip Bamelis, who is also R&D project coordinator at Van Hool, explains that the knowledge centre give an overview of data, knowledge and experience to date.
It is designed for bus operators and public authorities considering deploying fuel cell electric buses, and was developed with other FCH-JU Europa (Fuel Cell and hydrogen Joint Undertaking) funded projects currently deploying fuel cell electric buses in Europe.
The website will be managed by WaterstofNet and will be regularly updated with data on fuel cell electric buses from the various vehicles currently in operation in Europe.
“Until now there was no one-stop shop where precise and complete information about fuel cell electric buses could be found,” states Bamelis.
“The virtual knowledge base is bridging this gap by gathering existing knowledge and we hope that anyone who has an interest in fuel cell electric buses will find the information they need on the website.”
“The European public private partnership FCH JU is deploying significant resources to accelerate the commercialisation of this technology and projects like CHIC, HighVLO-City, HyTransit and 3Emotion, are increasingly contributing to this major objective,” comments The FCH JU executive director Bart Biebuyck.
“To date, 67 buses are being deployed thanks to the FCH JU support, allowing European citizens to enjoy a clean and silent zero-emission public transportation.
“It is crucial to keep raising awareness on the market-readiness and benefits of fuel cell electric buses. Having this new platform is definitely a big step in that respect.”