The Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE) has partnered with Humboldt Transit Authority (HTA) and Schatz Energy Research Center (SERC) to provide consulting services for the procurement of a hydrogen fueling station located at the HTA depot and eleven pilot fuel cell electric buses (FCEBs). HTA has developed a plan to transition its bus fleet to a 100% hydrogen fuel cell fleet by 2040. HTA received a grant from the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program which will fund the beginning of the transition to a hydrogen fleet with the construction of the fueling station and purchase of the pilot buses.
In addition to running their existing routes with FCEBs, HTA will deploy a new route between Eureka and Ukiah. This route will be approximately 330 miles round-trip, making it the longest transit route ever performed by a FCEB. To perform this strenuous service, HTA and CTE have worked with New Flyer to order the production of eleven 40’ Xcelsior CHARGE FCEBs with extra fuel tanks for extended range and a new Siemens ELFA 3 drive system, which will allow the bus to overcome the steep grades of the route. CTE joined HTA and SERC on-site in New Flyer’s production center in November 2023 to finalize the bus specifications, safety features, and configurable options. The first bus is scheduled for delivery in Q1 2025.
CTE assisted HTA in developing a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for the design and build of a hydrogen station at HTA’s depot. CTE developed the outline and structure of the RFQ based on previous experience with hydrogen station Requests for Proposals (RFPs) and developed qualification criteria including financial stability, previous hydrogen technology experience, and prior transit experience. HTA qualified four vendors, Clean Energy, FasTech, Line, and Trillium, in October 2023.
After the RFQ was released, CTE led the development of the RFP for the hydrogen station design and build. CTE developed a demand estimate and worked with HTA and SERC to develop a scope of work, requirements, and evaluation criteria. HTA released the first version of the RFP in May 2024 but did not award a contract. HTA revised the RFP and reissued version 2 of the RFP in August 2024.
CTE worked with HTA to create RFPs for the design and construction of hydrogen safety and detection upgrades to HTA’s maintenance bays. Once the RFPs are released and vendors are selected, CTE will supervise the process, including reviewing drawing and permitting and overseeing construction.
