Solaris is chosen by the municipal public transport operator TPER in the city of Bologna to carry out the biggest order for hydrogen buses in Europe. TPER is to purchase as much as 130 hydrogen buses from the Polish manufacturer. Alos TPER has taken an option for an additional 140 vehicles. A second order is from the city of Venice for a total of 90 hydrogen Solaris buses, with 75 of them being the 12-meter version and 15 being articulated buses. The contract also includes an option to increase the order quantity.
The delivery for Bologna will involve 127 units of 12-metre Urbino 12 hydrogen buses for TPER Bologna and 3 units for TPER Ferrara. The carrier shall also have the right to extend the order by an additional 140 vehicles as an option. The Italian cities of Bologna and Ferrara have just started one of the largest projects with hydrogen fuel cell buses in Europe. Each bus will feature a 70 kW fuel cell that will derive hydrogen from five composite tanks placed on the bus roof. With the full tanks that can hold 37.5 kg of hydrogen, the bus will be able to cover about 350 km. The first batch of 37 hydrogen units will be delivered in 2024.
The rest of the vehicles will arrive in 2025-2026. For Venice the local transport company Azienda Veneziana della Mobilita (AVM) has ordered AVM has placed an order for 75 units of the 12-meter Urbino hydrogen and 15 articulated Urbino 18 hydrogen buses by Solaris. These vehicles will be delivered to Venice gradually, starting from November 2025, and to be completed in the first weeks of 2026. The hydrogen buses for AVM will have hydrogen refueling valves located on both sides of the buses above the front wheel arch. AVM can extend the order with an option for another 13 twelve-meter buses and 5 articulated versions.
In the photo (from left to right): Luigi Brugnaro - the Mayor of Venice, Giovanni Seno - ACTV General Manager, Renato Boraso - the Councillor for Mobility, Michele Zuin - Councillor for Participated Companies of the Municipality of Venice, Luca Scalabrin - Chairman ACTV, Paolo Pettinelli - Chairman AVM Holding at the ceremonial handover of four Solaris Urbino 12 hydrogen buses.