Northern Ireland's Wrightbus orders 50 more fuel cell modules from Ballard

London — Northern Ireland's Wrightbus had ordered a further 50 fuel cell modules for its hydrogen-powered buses for deployment in UK cities, Canadian module supplier Ballard said March 9.

The buses are being partially funded under the JIVE (Joint Initiative For Hydrogen Vehicles Across Europe) program, it said.

"All of these additional modules will power buses planned for deployment in a number of UK cities, including Birmingham, Aberdeen, London and Belfast," Ballard said.

The order follows on from a similar sale of Ballard modules to Wrightbus announced in June, 2020, with all 50 modules in that order having shipped last year.

Of the additional 50 modules announced March 9, four were shipped in 2020.

The fuel cell electric bus market has been gaining momentum "and is expected to continue on an aggressive growth path in Europe and globally," said Rob Campbell, Ballard chief commercial operator, in a statement.

The JIVE program is providing partial funding for 295 FCEBs, of which 120 are operating in the UK, France, Italy, Denmark, Latvia and the Netherlands.

The remaining 175 are expected to be deployed in various European cities by mid-2022.

Battery-powered electric buses have taken a strong early lead over the fuel cell alternative in Europe's transition to low carbon urban transport. As of the start of this year, Germany had commissioned 755 battery buses versus 49 hydrogen fuel cell buses.

In the UK, the Transport Department is favoring battery buses over FCEBs in its five-year, 4,000 zero-emission bus strategy, Wrightbus Chairman Jo Bamford told S&P Global Platts in February.

Bamford, who founded Ryse Hydrogen to develop renewable hydrogen via electrolysis, has called on the UK government to set aside GBP500 million ($694 million), or 10% of its five-year National Bus Strategy fund to support hydrogen fuel cell buses.