SunLine Transit receives $12.5M grant for hydrogen fuel-cell fleet

Thousand Palms, Calif.'s SunLine Transit received a $12.5 million grant from California Climate Investments to buy five new zero-emission New Flyer fuel-cell buses and for the development of the largest hydrogen fueling station in the U.S. of its kind using electricity and renewable energy to generate clean hydrogen.

Hydrogenics will supply SunLine with five power modules to be integrated into the New Flyer fuel-cell buses. The company will also upgrade SunLine’s heavy-duty fueling station with a new 1.5 megawatt PEM electrolyzer for onsite hydrogen fuel generation — making it the largest renewable hydrogen fueling facility in the U.S. The station will produce up to 400 kilograms of hydrogen daily and be capable of fueling 15 buses per day.

The grant is part of the state’s historic effort to use proceeds from the climate change cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gases, including a widespread effort to promote low carbon transit such as hydrogen-powered or electric buses throughout California, with a special focus on serving disadvantaged communities.

SunLine will operate the proposed buses daily on two regular routes from Indio to Mecca/Oasis that provide a 98% coverage of disadvantaged communities. The project will collect 12 months of performance data to be used to help further commercialization of fuel-cell technology.