Chris Conway says hydrogen buses will help improve Derry air quality

There is potential to order up to 100 low emission vehicles over the next year. Most of these, he indicated at a briefing of the Infrastructure Committee, will be based in Derry and Belfast.

Earlier this year Translink signed a contract with Energia Group for the supply of renewably-sourced hydrogen fuel from an on-shore North Antrim windfarm and a contract with Wrightbus who agreed to supply three new sustainable fuel cell electric double-decker buses powered by hydrogen.

Now Mr. Conway has suggested this initial pilot could be expanded far further.

“We also want to accelerate what we are doing with low- and zero-emission vehicles. We announced a pilot with Wrightbus and Energia a number of months ago.

“We had hoped to have those buses in service by now, but, with COVID-19, that has been delayed, probably to the end of this year.

“We would like to accelerate the bus ordering of more hydrogen and electric vehicles. We think that there is the potential to order 100 vehicles over the next 12 months.

“That would go a long way to addressing air-quality issues in Belfast and in Derry/Londonderry. We will target those two urban areas for low-emission vehicles in support of other initiatives that are ongoing from the councils and the Minister on sustainable transport and looking at pacemaking in those areas. That is more geared to places where people want to live and work, rather than places where there are a lot of emissions from cars,” he told the Committee.

Last year at an energy conference hosted by the Chamber of Commerce in the Waterfoot Hotel in Derry the Head of Energy at the Department for the Economy Richard Rodgers suggested wind turbines in Derry could be used to power buses.

He said electricity from wind produced in the Sperrins could be used to split water into oxygen and hydrogen - a process called electrolysis.

Speaking last November Mr. Rodgers said: “Translink have plans to bring on three hydrogen fuel-cell buses. One of the uses in hydrogen would be in transport, electric, ultra-low emission vehicles using hyrodgen fuel-cell and testing it here.”

Translink launched those plans in January and now Energia will use a 500KW electrolyser at its Long Mountain Wind Farm near Dunloy to produce hydrogen for buses that sooner or later will be carrying passengers in Derry.

Mr. Conway told the Infrastructure Committee that hyrdogen buses were not only good for the environment but they were also good for public health.

“The Department of Health in England said that air quality is the biggest environmental health risk and estimates that approximately 30,000 deaths per year are due to air-quality issues.

“We have to be very conscious of that. It is an invisible risk that people are not always aware of.”