Croatia Zagreb Hydrogen Buses

The Croatian capital city Zagreb is modernizing its public transportation with an environmentally friendly fleet. The City of Zagreb, its public transportation company ZET, and the Croatian oil & gas company INA signed a cooperation agreement for the development of alternative fuels, specifically hydrogen. Within the next three years, the City will purchase twenty new hydrogen buses and INA will develop a hydrogen-filling station. The estimated 25 million Euros for the project will be provided by the European Union’s Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking Association (FCH JU).

ZET’s bus fleet today consists of 441 buses with an average age of 10.9, which cover a total of 29 million kilometers a year. Over the past few years, the fleet has been modernized, and many buses run on gas. The public procurement tender for hydrogen buses is expected in about a year. Similar projects are likely to start developing soon in other Croatian cities and EU countries.

U.S. manufacturers interested in exploring this opportunity should engage on the project early, while the technical documentation is being developed, and while there is sufficient time to find a local partner and/or obtain EU standards certification. For more information and assistance, please contact U.S. Commercial Service Croatia at Office.Zagreb@trade.gov.