Wrightbus to develop Ballymena hydrogen production facility

Part of the Wrightbus business is the manufacturing of hydrogen-powered buses, some of which are operated by Translink. Credit: Wrightbus

Wrightbus has plans to to create a green hydrogen production facility at its Ballymena factory Part of the Wrightbus business is the manufacturing of hydrogen-powered buses, some of which are operated by Translink.

Subject to planning approval, the new facility, which is being delivered by Wrightbus in partnership with Hygen Energy, will produce enough clean energy to power 300 hydrogen powered buses a day in Northern Ireland.

A community consultation process for the facility will include two ‘drop-in’ public exhibitions at the Wrightbus site on Friday 3rd March 2023 and Saturday 4th March 2023.

Wrightbus chairman Jo Bamford said: “Hydrogen is the best means of decarbonising many bus routes, but for this to happen bus operators need a reliable and voluminous supply of low cost low carbon hydrogen.

"It is great to see a project that is being sized to enable future demand for hydrogen here in Northern Ireland to be met.

“This project will initially be able to produce enough hydrogen to run up to 300 buses, and has the potential to triple in scale as demand for hydrogen increases. We hope it will set an example for how these projects will be designed and built.”

A planning application will be submitted to Mid and East Antrim Borough Council in April 2023.

Wrightbus plan for the facility to be operational by Summer 2024.

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