Aberdeen's hydrogen buses sold for a fraction of their original cost
Aberdeen sold its hydrogen bus fleet for about 5% of what it paid, a stark illustration of how quickly stranded hydrogen investments can lose their value.
Aberdeen City Council has sold its fleet of 25 hydrogen buses to operator First Bus for about £30,000 each — roughly 5% of the roughly £556,000 per vehicle the council originally paid. The buses entered service in 2021 but ran for only about three and a half years before hydrogen supply problems took them out of action, and the £30,000 offer was reportedly the best genuine commercial bid the council received, with some parties offering to take the buses for free or for £1 each.
First Bus plans to convert around 23 of the buses to battery-electric operation, drawing on its existing experience converting and charging electric buses elsewhere in Aberdeen, though it hasn't disclosed timelines or costs for the conversion. The sale illustrates a broader risk with hydrogen transport investments: a technology can work perfectly well in day-to-day service and still destroy most of its capital value if the operating model behind it breaks down and leaves few buyers for the specialized vehicles it required.
Whether the conversion succeeds will help determine whether other stranded hydrogen bus fleets can be salvaged, or whether they represent a costly dead end.
Based on reporting by Michael Barnard for CleanTechnica. Read the original: https://cleantechnica.com/2026/09/11/aberdeen-hydrogen-buses-30000-residual-value/
This article was produced with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by an editor before publication.
