RIGA - In Riga, hydrogen-powered trolleybuses on the 4th trolleybus route Central Market - Smerlis have been put into service, Baiba Bartasevica, representative of the Riga municipal transportation company Rigas Satiksme, informed LETA.

The company opened a hydrogen production, refueling and storage plant located at 6 Vienibas Gatve in Riga in December last year. It has been in test mode since early March.

According to Janis Golubevs, a board member of the municipal company, representatives from the Danish company Nel Hydrogen arrived in Riga in mid-February to carry out the final equipment adjustments and is now in the process of running a station test, during which these hydrogen-powered trolleybuses are being filled with hydrogen and passenger transport is being tested using a hydrogen engine.

"The first test results have been successful and we see that all the equipment is working, but we want to be 100 percent sure everything is working smoothly, so we will do a repeat test. We hope the process is successful and the station will be fully operational in the coming months," Golubevs said.

Hydrogen allows these trolleybuses to travel up to 150 kilometers without a refill, while it takes up to 10 minutes to fill one trolley with hydrogen. In total, the company has 10 hydrogen-powered trolleys at its disposal at the moment.