A fleet of buses powered by green hydrogen that produce no harmful emissions. Bolzano confirms its status as a city at the forefront of sustainable mobility, with 12 new vehicles joining the fuel-cell prototypes by EvoBus that have been in service since 2013. Built by Solaris, the new buses help make Sasa – the in-house company of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano and operator of road public transport – the first Italian organisation to be powered by entirely non-polluting hydrogen, since it is produced entirely from renewable energy sources.

Construction of a hydrogen refuelling station gets under way

Together with the European Union, the Autonomous Province of South Tyrol contributed to the funding of the vehicles with 10.2 million euros, continuing along the path towards local public transport that is as free from emissions as possible. A choice that, commented the Minister for Sustainable Infrastructure and Mobility, Enrico Giovannini, is "in line with the ministry's strategic vision. The ecological transition is one of the missions of the Piano nazionale di ripresa e resilienza, on which we are counting for a new relaunch of the country that places people's wellbeing and business competitiveness at its centre, in respect of the environment.

In this context, an investment of more than three billion euros is planned for the renewal of the bus fleet used in local public transport, with the purchase of electric and hydrogen vehicles for urban areas." Coinciding with the arrival of the new green fleet, the Autonomous Province has also decided to co-finance the construction of a refuelling station for hydrogen directly at Sasa's bus depot, in the southern part of the city.

The aim is a "green corridor" to connect northern and southern Europe

The electric vehicle "Solaris Urbino 12 hydrogen" is an ultra-modern zero-emission bus that combines a high-performance battery with a fuel cell; it is equipped with two motors with a maximum power of 110 kW each, while the fuel cell, built using lithium-ion technology, has a rated energy of 29.2 kWh. The hydrogen tank capacity is 37 kilograms, which allows a range of 350 kilometres with the emission of only heat and water vapour. For the Deputy President and Councillor for Infrastructure and Mobility of the Province of Bolzano, Daniel Alfreider, "only an efficient public transport system can be a valid alternative to private transport, and it should also be as sustainable as possible, now that technological innovations make this possible. We are placing great emphasis on the production of green hydrogen for zero-emission mobility, both in public transport and in freight transport." The goal is the creation of a "Brenner green corridor" that would connect the south and north of Europe in a sustainable way, based on digitalisation, low-emission vehicles and enhanced rail travel.