Hydrogenics (earlier post) has been tapped by the Ministry for Transport Energy and State Planning of the State North-Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany, to develop a hydrogen fuel-cell powered “midi-bus.” The propulsion system of the 17-foot European-manufactured bus will be based on Hydrogenics’ HyPM power module technology. Also under the terms of the contract, Hydrogenics will supply full scale testing and select demonstrations in NRW. The contract is a cost share arrangement in which NRW will fund 50% of the project cost up to €566,000 (approximately $US 735,000).

The project and its assessment will take place over a one-year period. Demonstrations are expected to be underway by the middle of next year.

The HyPM modules are fully integrated systems with mechanical and electrical interfaces and controls built around Hydrogenics’ H2X PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) fuel cell stack. The current  module, the HyPM 10, can be combined in a serial or parallel configurations to meet a variety of power requirements.

The HyPM 10 produces 10 kW of continuous power with peak power of 12 kW.

Hydrogenics has worked on several fuel cell bus prototypes for customers including the US Air Force and Natural Resources Canada.