With hydrogen fuel production and distribution planned for Nanaimo, proprietors hope the Regional District of Nanaimo will consider hydrogen-fuelled public transit.
HTEC has designs on a hydrogen facility on Harmac property in the Duke Point area and fuelling station at a Mid Island Co-op cardlock on Boxwood Road. At the RDN's transit committee meeting on Thursday, July 25, Jeff Grant, HTEC vice-president of transportation solutions, presented on potential opportunities, saying that fuel cell electric bus technology has been tried and tested.
"Hydrogen storage is pretty significant … up to 590-kilometre range on a single refuelling event," said Grant. "These buses have been in operation for upwards of 20 years. We've got 285 million kilometres of zero-emission driving experience; we feel pretty comfortable with this platform."
Fuelling takes 12 to 13 minutes, Grant said.
Parksville Mayor Doug O'Brien pointed out there would be extra costs if the RDN wanted to fully electrify its fleet. RDN Transit's fleet is currently comprised of compressed natural gas buses.
"We also have to recognize the fact that if we switch our buses over to battery electric, we would have to put in charging stations, which are not exactly cheap," he said. "In the case we went to a hydrogen cell, we would be taking advantage of a fuelling station already at Mid Island Co-op."
In terms of the Harmac site, HTEC is into detailed engineering and has plans to start construction as soon as this year, with commissioning and operations anticipated to begin mid-2026, according to Grant.
No motions related to the HTEC presentation were made at the meeting, but Ben Geselbracht, Nanaimo director, did think it was worth exploring.
"I'm very interested in the opportunities that producing hydrogen within the regional district does present and the opportunity to utilize hydrogen technology within [our] longer-haul routes," said Geselbracht. "If there are opportunities to explore pilot programs with B.C. Transit that's something that I think would be worthwhile, to begin those conversations."
