Jelgava: testing ground for hydrogen mobility

The city was the first place in the Baltics to open its doors to this possibility

The Latvian Municipality of Jelgava was proud to report on 14 May that the testing of the latest generation hydrogen car from Toyota was successfully completed that week. The city has in fact already been serving as a destination for such tests since September 2020, making the first such place in the Baltic region. The local authorities are also studying the possibility of introducing hydrogen buses as part of the local public transit network.

Looking confidently towards hydrogen production, as well

Gints Burks, a member of the board of the Jelgava Bus Park, the city public transport operator, commented that allowing for the testing of these type of vehicles was very important as a check-up with developments in modern modes of mobility.

"Technologies in the field of green energy are developing very fast, so such test drives are very important because they allow us to follow the current events and model the best possible future solutions for our city," he was quoted as saying for the municipal website.

Mr Burks added: "Hydrogen consumption has decreased, the car has become more powerful. With one refuelling it is already able to cover 700 kilometres, as opposed to the previous model, which was able to cover 400 to 450 kilometres with one refuelling. Hydrogen consumption for this car is 0.8 kilograms of hydrogen per 100 kilometres”.

The municipal portal also reminded that the administration had already signed a letter of intent one year ago with sustainable electricity producer SIA ‘Fortum Latvia’ that aims to initiate a joint study of the technical aspects and economic justification for hydrogen extraction and application.

The ultimate goal of the research is to develop solutions that would allow supplementing the road transport of Jelgava municipal companies with green hydrogen electric buses and hydrogen-electric waste removal vehicles in the future. 

Meanwhile, the authorities are doing their part for decarbonizing public transit with the introduction of electric buses in the city, with the first four of these coming in July.