A hydrogen fuel cell bus is to be delivered to the Tees Valley Hydrogen Hub after a national competition.

To demonstrate progress with its national hydrogen strategy, the UK Government launched the Hydrogen Transport Hub Demonstration competition to showcase real-world solutions.

Engineering group Ricardo submitted a bid with Stagecoach, one of the UK’s main public transport operators, to demonstrate a retrofit hydrogen fuel cell bus. The UK Government’s Department for Transport has named the Ricardo and Stagecoach bid as one of the competition winners and has awarded funding to build a one-off vehicle which will be available for demonstration in the hub from February 2022.

The first in the country, the hub will bring together leading figures from government, industry and academia to focus research, testing and trials.

Teri Hawksworth, of Ricardo said: “Winning the competition will enable us to demonstrate the environmental, societal and economic benefits of the circular economy: affordably achieving zero emissions, while extending vehicle lives through retrofitting rather than scrapping vehicles.”

Ricardo will develop a scalable, modular solution, enabling it to be installed, with minimal adaption, to multiple single and double decker platforms.

Steve Walker, Stagecoach North East Managing Director, said: “Introducing new low emission technologies is key to achieving our environmental goals.

“Stagecoach has invested more than £1billion in greener buses in the past decade and is fully committed to reducing its environmental impact.”