Hydrogen vehicle conversion specialist ULEMCo has won a major contract from Aberdeen City Council (ACC) to convert its full fleet of utility vehicles to hydrogen dual-fuel.
The contract, initially for 35 vehicles, will see the council operate the largest fleet of hydrogen vehicles in the UK, marking an important step in its mission to become carbon net zero by 2045.
ULEMCo has already supplied ACC with heavy-duty vehicles that have been running successfully on the roads for over a year.
This new order, part of a fleetwide conversion commitment, includes further refuse collection vehicles and road sweepers, but also a wide variety of other utility trucks including tippers and tractors.
ACC is targeting the assets that are hard to decarbonise such as tractors and tippers, as well as converting further refuse vehicles and sweepers in the absence of any commercially available ‘zero-emission’ alternatives, which are not expected for some time yet.
ACC co-leader councillor Ian Yuill said: “Hydrogen has become a valued fuel source in the city’s transport sector, with vehicles including buses, cars and refuse lorries already using it daily on our streets, showcasing our position as a world leader in bringing this technology to market. We are excited to develop our relationship with ULEMCo to deliver further innovations to the technology, expanding our existing resource into the largest fleet of hydrogen-fuelled vehicles in the UK.”
The deal will create significant demand for the growing Hydrogen Hub in the region, supporting the council’s commitment to deliver a thriving hydrogen economy in the area, and creating the demand for more highly skilled jobs. This includes work to convert the vehicles locally, removing the need to move the vehicles to ULEMCo’s Liverpool HQ for the upgrade.
Amanda Lyne, managing director of ULEMCo, said: “The council’s investment in our ‘here and now’ solution will help build significant demand for hydrogen, which in turn creates base load demand for scaled investment for infrastructure suppliers to provide more refuelling etc.”
ULEMCo is targeting Aberdeen and the rest of Scotland as key areas for investment for its conversion centre roll-out programme to aid the rapid growth of hydrogen deployment and deliver cleaner mobility.
It’s already gained investment by Edinburgh-based angel investment syndicate Equity Gap and includes Scotland’s national economic development agency Scottish Enterprise as a shareholder.
