With the order for ten hydrogen buses, which will be deployed around Emmen, the public transport agency Groningen-Drenthe and Qbuzz are giving a boost to the developments of the GZI Next energy centre. The deployment of the buses will promote the production and use of hydrogen in Drenthe and bring a green hydrogen plant closer to the GZI Next site in Emmen. Therefore, the province of Drenthe will support the purchase of the buses.
With the construction of a 12 MW solar park at the beginning of this year, the first step towards the realisation of the GZI Next energy centre was taken. The order for the hydrogen buses is a second important step, which will also make the green hydrogen component of the GZI Next more concrete.
The hydrogen buses are financed by the public transport agency, which receives co-financing from the European Union (JIVE2) and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. Shell will build a hydrogen filling station at the GZI Next location for the buses and is also working on the development of the 10MW hydrogen plant on site so that the green hydrogen for the buses can be produced locally. Emmen's hydrogen buses are expected to use 60 to 90 tonnes of green hydrogen per year. This will allow the public transport agency and Qbuzz to make use of long-distance bus transport solutions without local CO2 emissions.
GZI Next
The GZI is the former NAM gas purification plant in Emmen. Emmen Municipality, Drenthe Province, Shell, EMMTEC services, NAM, EBN, New Energy Coalition, Gasunie, Gasunie Transport.
Services (GTS) are jointly examining how existing natural gas infrastructure can be used for sustainable forms of energy such as solar energy, green gas production and green hydrogen production. The aim is to stimulate sustainable activity, employment, and innovation, to compensate for job losses due to reduced gas production and to contribute to the development of energy transition technologies.
