Pau: Municipality switches from fuel cell to battery buses

It was a significant project for both the past and present times, also reported by busplaner: In 2019, the southern French municipality of Pau acquired eight Van Hool ExquiCity18 Fuel Cell buses – the first 18-meter fuel cell buses in regular service. Since then, they have been operating on the Fébus line, and four more are on order. But after four years of frequent breakdowns and nearly doubled H₂ fuel costs, the city will probably opt for the purchase of electric buses, said Jérémie Neillo, operations manager for transport in Pau, in an interview with the French magazine La Gazette des Communes. This was also reported by the Internet platform Hydrogen Insight.

We will purchase eight buses per year over the next ten years. Hydrogen would be too difficult to handle. Although the regular service operates 99% of the time, keeping the buses on the road is a daily adventure. They have many small breakdowns. As for me, I spend three-quarters of my days there, even though it is just one of 17 lines. (Neillo)

Maintenance Contracts Mitigate Costs

To get operating costs under control, Pau has signed two flat-rate maintenance contracts worth around 600,000 euros per year with project partners, the fuel station operator GNVert (a subsidiary of Engie) and the bus manufacturer Van Hool, according to La Gazette des Communes and Hydrogen Insight. Actually, the costs for operating the fuel cell buses would have amounted to around 900,000 euros per year.

Rising Hydrogen Costs

Since hydrogen-powered vehicles only have a maximum total efficiency of 25% in the well-to-wheel consideration due to efficiency losses in electrolysis, compression, and refueling – compared to about 75% for battery-electric alternatives – the bill for the H₂ buses in Pau was particularly high last year due to rising electricity costs. While the fuel, which in Pau consists of 80% green electricity with guarantees of origin and 20% from purchased gray H₂, should normally cost the city around 200,000 to 300,000 euros per year, the bill for this year is expected to reach 400,000 euros.

Despite the ongoing costs of nearly one million euros per year, Neillo defended the city’s decision to acquire the fuel cell buses – even though they are 30% more expensive than electric buses – pointing out that the government had strongly supported the switch to hydrogen buses at the time.

High Subsidies

More than 9 of the 15 million euro acquisition costs were covered by EU, national, and regional subsidies. Moreover, battery-powered buses at the time only had a range of 130 to 160 km under winter conditions compared to the 250 km of the fuel cell buses, and there was a danger that operation would slow down due to the long charging time. The city was also hesitant to invest in charging infrastructure that would prevent a change or expansion of the route.

In retrospect, it was the right decision. If we were to undertake the project today, it would be much more questionable. On the one hand, funding for this type of project is becoming increasingly scarce. On the other hand, the autonomy and range of electric buses are increasing year by year. (Neillo)

Conclusion: Less funding for H₂ transport and improved ranges of fully electric buses mean that the first twelve fuel cell buses in Pau will probably be the last for now.