More than £25m in government and matched industry funding has been awarded to Wrightbus and Bramble Energy for zero-emissions bus projects.
The companies are among seven successful bids in the latest round of allocations via the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) Collaborative Research and Development programme.
Ballymena-based bus manufacturer Wrightbus has received £6.4m of government funding, matched by industry to a total of £12.7m to produce a new, market-leading platform for battery and fuel cell electric driven buses. Among the partners of the NextGenZEBs project are Queens University Belfast, Grayson Thermal Systems, Hutchinson Engineering and Translink.
In March, Wrightbus received a share of £37.9 as one of 15 successful projects in the government’s Net Zero Hydrogen Fund.
Renewable energy innovator Bramble Energy has been allocated £6.3m by the fund, matched by industry to £12.7 to pioneer “first of its kind” fuel-cell technology to power a hydrogen double-decker bus.
The Crawley-based company is joining forces with Equipmake, Aeristech and the University of Bath to develop a bus using its revolutionary, low-cost printed circuit board fuel cell (PCBFC) technology.
Dr Vidal Bharath, CCO at Bramble Energy, says: “Fuel-cell technology can deliver a viable net zero solution that lends itself to commercial vehicles where downtime needs to be limited.
“This consortium of partners means that we will be able to deliver a world-leading hybridized powertrain, utilising our innovative low cost PCBFC technology for the bus sector, where there needs to be a viable electrified solution that can deliver on cost and scalability.”
