Italy's First Hydrogen-Powered Buses Enter Service in Bologna; 127-Vehicle Fleet Officially Launched

Italian public transport operator TPER has put the first of 127 hydrogen-powered buses into service in Bologna. These Urbino 12 buses, manufactured by Polish company Solaris Bus, were ordered in 2023 and will be delivered in batches to operate on city routes as well as suburban lines connecting to the wider metropolitan area.

The project was made possible thanks to €69.9 million in funding secured by the City of Bologna from Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), along with €5 million in matching funds provided by TPER itself.

The buses are equipped with 160kW fuel cell systems and have a maximum range of 350 kilometers. Solaris stated that this brings the size of its hydrogen-powered bus fleet in Europe to over 800 vehicles.

The company also recently won a tender for 19 fuel cell buses in Krefeld, Germany, which are expected to enter service in 2027.

Additionally, Italy transposed the green hydrogen requirements from the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive III (RED III) into domestic law in February of this year, including a quota requiring that 1% of transportation energy come from green hydrogen by 2030.

However, H2 View has learned that Italy plans to implement the relevant RED III requirements through secondary legislation, and no specific timeline has been announced yet.