Hydrogen fuel is on the rise in the transit industry. Companies and agencies are looking for cleaner and more efficient ways to go about transporting passengers to their destinations. Golden Empire Transit District (GET) and the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority (SBCTA) are making the necessary partnerships to gain access to hydrogen fuel to power their transit operations and support their cleaner hydrogen fueling projects.
GET
Golden Empire Transit District (GET) awarded a contract to Kaizen Clean Energy (KCE) for its services in establishing a hydrogen fueling station and microgrid for the agency.
KCE will provide GET with an off-grid hydrogen fueling station and hydrogen-based microgrid to support GETBus's zero-emission fleet. Under the contract, KCE will provide a KCE-150 microgrid capable of producing up to 150kW of power and a hydrogen fueling station delivering up to 460kilograms (1014.1 lbs.) of H2/day. The power produced from the KCE-150 will power the hydrogen fueling station and/or provide EV DC fast charging.
KCE's onsite hydrogen production will give GETBus better control of its hydrogen fuel supply and reduce harmful emissions. The KCE technology has been tested and deployed in extreme weather and remote locations to support the replacement of diesel generators and EV charging.
"Kaizen's hydrogen fueling stations are the most cost-effective systems to fuel hydrogen fuel cell vehicle fleets, providing customers with delivered hydrogen costs significantly less than compressed or liquid hydrogen technologies," said Eric Smith, chief commercial officer, KCE.
SBCTA
The SBCTA Board of Directors approved a contract with Air Liquide Hydrogen Energy U.S., LLC (H2E) for the Arrow Maintenance Facility (AMF) Hydrogen Fuel Upgrade Project. The project will support SBCTA’s Zero Emission Multiple Unit (ZEMU), which will use hydrogen fuel cell technology to power its electric engine.
H2E will design, construct and install the infrastructure that will provide hydrogen storage and transfer system that will fuel the ZEMU train at the AMF just east of SBCTA’s offices at the Santa Fe Depot.
SBCTA and Stadler introduced the SBCTA ZEMU at the American Public Transportation Association EXPO conference in Orlando, Fla., with plans of launching the first self-powered hydrogen train in North America.
Currently, the ZEMU is undergoing federal safety testing in Colorado and is expected to be in service on the Metrolink line from the Downtown San Bernardino Transit Center to the University of Redlands in 2024.
