They were acquired at a cost of 4.8 million euros and presented shortly before the 2023 election - five hydrogen buses for Palma's EMT bus company. Since then, they have been in the garage. The reason? There wasn't any hydrogen to power them.
The theory was that the Lloseta hydrogen plant was going to supply the fuel. However, it was discovered that the plant wasn't actually producing any hydrogen. Neither the Balearic Government nor Palma Town Hall appeared to have been aware of a design fault in the electrolyser for breaking down water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen atoms. An alternative source from the mainland was out of the question because regulations prohibit the transportation of hydrogen by sea at the pressure required by the buses.
After he became mobility councillor following the election, Antoni Deudero said: "The five buses were purchased by the previous administration when they knew they couldn't obtain hydrogen. These buses represented an outlay of €4.8 million, while a natural gas bus cost €280,000. Fifteen gas-powered buses could have been purchased and would now be in service."
Once the problem at the Lloseta plant was finally sorted out, EMT awarded a supply contract last September. The town hall had anticipated that the buses would begin operating in late 2024, but the launch was delayed until now.
There were test runs for the buses on Friday and on Saturday one was to be used to take Real Mallorca players to the Son Moix Stadium for the La Liga match against Celta Vigo. If the testing all goes successfully, the buses will finally be in service on Monday.
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