St Helens Council introduce first hydrogen refuse trucks

St Helens Council has ordered 10 Faun Bluepower hydrogen-powered refuse collection trucks.

It’s the first local authority to introduce the vehicles, which are built in the UK in collaboration with Daimler Trucks.

Trevor Nicoll, assistant director at St Helen’s Council, said: “We are delighted to be the pioneering local authority on this project in the UK. With this partnership that involves not just the introduction of the vehicle, but the surrounding topics of skills, education and the development of decarbonisation in the community, it is the first major step for us on the green decarbonisation journey.”

The Faun Bluepower is a hydrogen/electric hybrid vehicle that uses an electric motor for drive and a hydrogen fuel cell to charge the battery while the vehicle is operating. The setup reduces the amount of batteries needed by 30% when compared to fully electric truck.

Simon Hyde, chief executive of Faun Zoeller UK, added: “The company and group have invested heavily in the product since 2016 and are very well positioned in terms of product performance, manufacturing capability and capacity, to provide a robust solution to the challenge of decarbonisation.

“It was the intent to ensure that the product was completely ready to launch in UK and I’m very proud that having seen over 30 units fully operational in Germany, France and Belgium, with outstanding results, combined with a huge £15m investment in a new, dedicated production facility for Bluepower, it is more than ready for the UK. We are thrilled to be fully engaged with the forward- thinking team at St Helen’s and are looking forward to working on the programme in the wider community.”

 Venson Automotive Solutions believes hydrogen could be a better option for many commercial fleets than electric, as vehicles are more easily adapted and refilling is much faster than recharging.