Project Status: as of July 2004The Perth fuel cell buses are on the production line at the Evobus factory in Mannheim, Germany. The fabrication of the first Citaro for Perth is underway and has received its first coat of paint. Buses two and three will soon be commenced and all three buses are
schedule for completion in June 2004. They should arrive in Perth in
late July. |
Project Summary
The Government of Western Australia is undertaking a two-year fuel cell bus demonstration effort as part of the Sustainable Transport Energy Program (STEP), a government initiative dedicated to developing environmentally, economically and socially sustainable transportation systems for Western Australia. The Western Australian city of Perth will be the host transit site. DaimlerChrysler subsidiary EvoBus is developing three fuel cell buses, using the Citaro bus body and Ballard Power Systems fuel cell; these buses are part of the series of Citaro fuel cell buses that DaimlerChrysler is producing for the European CUTE program. The buses will be tested in regular Perth service routes from late 2004 to 2006.
 Three Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses with Ballard fuel cell engines will be developed by EvoBus for this demonstration. They will be this bus delivered to Madrid as part of the CUTE program. |
Host Site
The three fuel cell buses will be demonstrated in the Perth public transit system, known as “Transperth”. Transperth is controlled by the Western Australian Government’s Department for Planning and Infrastructure, which will have primary responsibility for carrying out the fuel cell bus demonstration. Transperth operates about 930 buses; most are diesel, but 54 are CNG and two are LPG. Transperth has committed to making all future purchases CNG-powered buses. Transperth has about 48 million bus passenger boardings per year, and carried out 44 million bus kilometers in service per year.
The main operator of the fuel cell buses will be PATH Transit, one of three private companies that are under contract to the Department for Planning and Infrastructure to provide Perth urban bus services. Initially, the buses will be tested on just two Perth City routes. The central business district routes (known as CAT) features buses that run at high frequencies; this service is free and is designed to reduce city car congestion. The second route is the city circle route, which circumnavigates Perth through the outer suburbs. Other routes and services will be considered as the trial progresses. The program managers may consider giving other operators an opportunity to run the buses as the demonstration progresses.
The Buses
The three buses being developed for this program are part of the limited series of pre-commercial Mercedes-Benz Citaro fuel cell buses being manufactured in Germany by EvoBus for the European fuel cell bus demonstration program. (EvoBus is a subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler.)
Ballard Power Systems is supplying the three 205 kW heavy-duty PEM fuel cell engines for the buses; they are scheduled for delivery in the first half of 2004. The Ballard fuel cell engine and powerplant (including fuel cell stacks, radiator modules, cooling modules, and hydrogen diffuser) are located on the roof of the Citaro bus. The bus will be equipped with nine compressed gas cylinders, containing hydrogen compressed at 350 bar. The hydrogen tanks will be mounted on the roof, at the front of the bus. The electric motor, transmission, driveshaft and mechanical rear axle are mounted in the rear section of the bus. The buses will be owned by the Western Australian Government, through the Department for Planning and Infrastructure.
| Bus specifications | |
|---|---|
| Passenger capacity | 60-70 people (30 seats) |
| Ballard fuel cell unit power | 205kW |
| Range | 200-300 km/125 miles |
| Length | 12 meters |
| Weight | 15 tons (approx.) |
| Maximum weight of hydrogen | 44 kg/1890 litres(approx.) |
Program Timeline
| Timeline for the Perth Program | |
|---|---|
| March 2002 - March 2004 | Installation of hydrogen generation and fueling stations |
| September 2004 | Delivery of fuel cell buses |
| September 2004- September 2006 | Demonstration of the fuel cell buses; evaluation and data collection effort underway |
| March 2007 | Evaluation results released; project conclusion |
Infrastructure
BP has committed to constructing a hydrogen refueling station for the trial. The hydrogen will be produced by BP as a by-product from the BP oil refinery in Kwinana. This refinery, located just south of Perth, is Western Australia's only oil Refinery and supplies most of Western Australia's fuel needs, The hydrogen will be piped to the BOC site next door where it will be purified and pressurized. The compressed hydrogen will then be trucked to the bus depot and off-loaded to the refueling facility, from which the hydrogen fuel cell buses will be refueled. The buses will be housed, refueled and maintained by PATH Transit. PATH Transit employees will be trained to carry out maintenance and operation of the buses.
Funding and Sponsors
The Government of Western Australia is leading this project and providing the major funding, with the Department for Planning and Infrastructure in Western Australia responsible for coordinating the demonstration effort. Two agencies of the Commonwealth Government of Australia – Environment Australia and the Australian Greenhouse Office -- have jointly committed $2.5M to the Perth trial.
| Funding Source | Amount |
|---|---|
| Government of Western Australia | AU$8.0 million |
| Commonwealth Government | AU$2.5 million |
| BP | AU$28.5 million |
| Total Funding | AU$13 million |
Data Collection and Evaluation
The two-year data collection and evaluation for this program is being carried out by Murdoch University, located in Perth. The researchers are charged with evaluating the operations of the buses and the fuel cells as well as the hydrogen refueling system, analyzing performance, reliability, and durability from the perspective of bus fleet operations. They have agreed to record and evaluate detailed and specific technical performance data in collaboration with EvoBus in Germany and Ballard in Canada; to date, the specifics of the data collection plan have not been made public. Researchers will also collaborate with the NEFLEET, ECTOS and CUTE projects as well as similar projects in other parts of the world, particularly that of AC Transit in California, to exchange information on the bus trial results.