So far, the Czech Republic’s Martin Uher Bus has received ten Urbino twelve hydrogen-powered buses from Solaris Bus & Coach. The plan for these vehicles is that they will be deployed in the Central Bohemian region around Prague.

It was in September of 2023 that Solaris won their largest-ever contract, which enabled them to supply 130 bus units to Italian transport operators. Within this contract, there was a clause which provided the option to extend the order by an extra 140 vehicles.

Now that this step in the company’s business is taking place, the hydrogen will be efficiently supplied to the vehicle from the Vrané nad Vltavou hydroelectric power plant. This plant has the ability to produce the hydrogen from 100% green electricity. Once produced, the hydrogen will then go into use powering the vehicle’s fuel cells and the plan for these is to have a total power capacity of 70kW.

A large part of the plan with these buses, is for them to serve the public, especially in the hilly areas located throughout Mnísek pod Brdy. It has been agreed that this project will commence operations by the end of 2025.

The region’s Governor, Petra Pecková, claimed that, ‘the region is the first in the country to launch a “major hydrogen project in transport.”’

Pecková continued, “We are the most populated region in the Czech Republic and we are closely monitoring innovations in transport and other sectors. We believe that the new hydrogen-powered buses will also prove themselves in the difficult, rough terrain around Mnísek pod Brdy.”

Managing Director of Martin Uher Bus, Martin Uher, mentioned that he was ‘excited and honoured by the plans.’ He also recognised that faster refuelling times when compared to batteries is a major positive.

Solaris’ Managing Director, Roman Zdráhal, commented, “We will bring our experience and extensive knowledge to this initiative – our company has already delivered more than 220 hydrogen fuel cell buses to customers from 10 European countries.”