BOC and Foton Mobility have announced a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreement to develop the hydrogen bus sector in Australia and New Zealand.
The partners will work together to develop operational and commercial hydrogen bus models across the entire supply chain including production, storage and refuelling, right through to leasing arrangements and maintenance.
The partnership will develop pathways for scaling up hydrogen bus networks, as bus operators move from pilot hydrogen bus projects in the coming years to widespread uptake across public transport networks over the next decade.
Vesna Olles, Director Strategy and Clean Energy at BOC South Pacific said collaboration was needed to develop scalable, affordable models that support the roll-out of hydrogen bus fleets across Australia and New Zealand.
“BOC is delighted to be working with Foton Mobility to explore a variety of leasing arrangements for hydrogen buses and hydrogen refuelling stations, and demonstrating a strong business case to government and private operators interested in decarbonising their bus fleets.
“Transport accounts for almost one fifth of Australia’s total carbon emissions, which needs to be reduced significantly to meet net zero targets. Hydrogen buses are already widely used around the world, with proven technology and infrastructure making it a viable option for the future.”
Neil Wang, CEO of Foton Mobility said the alignment between BOC and Foton Mobility is unique as we are connecting all the pieces together for hydrogen to work in the transport sector.
“From developing infrastructure, hydrogen supply and vehicle deployment, we will be able to confidently supply low emission solutions to Australia’s transport sector”.
Hydrogen buses can be fuelled in 12 minutes, and one hydrogen refuelling station can refuel 160 buses a day. Hydrogen buses have approximately 100 kilometres extra driving range than the typical electric bus.
BOC’s holding company, Linde plc has installed 200 hydrogen refuelling stations globally and successfully completed over 1.5 million hydrogen refuellings of cars, buses and forklifts.
