Offenbach secures 8 million euros in federal funding for electric buses
The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety is supporting the city of Offenbach in converting its bus fleet to electric drive. On Monday, July 1, Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze presented Anja Georgi, Managing Director of Offenbacher Verkehrs-Betriebe (OVB) from the Stadtwerke Group, and OVB's authorized signatory Janine Mielzarek with a funding notification for eight million euros in Bochum.
Federal funding from the "Clean Air" emergency program
In addition to Offenbach, the cities of Bochum, Duisburg, Gelsenkirchen and Aachen received funding approval for the purchase of electric buses for local public transport. The five cities were able to assert themselves with their concepts for the use of electric buses in a field of numerous municipalities.
According to the Ministry, the five municipalities will receive a total of 14.3 million euros for the purchase of around 70 e-buses. The funding comes from the "Clean Air" immediate action program, which is fed from the special assets of the Energy and Climate Fund (EKF).
The Federal Ministry for the Environment is currently supporting eleven projects across Germany with grants amounting to 180 million euros, which will be used to purchase around 530 electric buses. In total, the ministry is providing almost 300 million euros for electric bus projects.
Better quality of life in conurbations
Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze: "More and more cities are modernizing their public transport systems. This is the right response to the diesel crisis and the excessive levels of nitrogen oxide in the air. We are actively supporting this, for example with the purchase of electric buses. Their advantages are obvious: the air remains cleaner, they are much quieter and therefore contribute to more peace and quiet in residential areas. Last but not least, they emit fewer climate-damaging CO2 emissions. They therefore ensure a better quality of life, especially in urban areas."
According to the Minister, the funding should help to make electric buses affordable and therefore an option for all transport companies.
Switch from diesel to electric buses
The eight million euros for the Offenbach mobility company OVB are intended for the purchase of a second tranche of 29 electric buses. The approval period extends until December 31, 2021. In line with Offenbach's local transport plan, OVB plans to replace a total of 36 of its current 87 diesel vehicles with electric buses by 2022. Thanks to federal funding, the government is now covering 80% of the additional costs for the 29 electric vehicles compared to the purchase of new diesel buses.
For the first tranche of seven e-buses as well as for the development of a charging infrastructure and the conversion of the workshop and depot, the transport company had already received a funding decision from the state of Hesse for four million euros at the turn of the year. The Hessian Ministry of Economics, Energy, Transport and Regional Development used funds from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for this funding. The decision was handed over by Hesse's Minister of Economics and Transport Tarek Al-Wazir in his home town of Offenbach.
Head of Mobility Sabine Groß successfully campaigned for Offenbach to be included in the federal funding. "Offenbach has succeeded in gaining this exceptional federal funding from among many competitors. This is a great success for the SOH's mobility division. It is also good and important for climate protection. With the help of the planned 36 electric buses, emissions can be reduced by 3,066 tons of CO2 and 1,333 tons of nitrogen oxide," says Groß.
"We are delighted to have the support of the Federal Ministry for the Environment. This will enable us to tackle the switch to electric buses step by step. We are using this funding to procure electric buses to replace diesel buses, which we have to take out of service anyway due to their age," says Anja Georgi.
Offenbach am Main, July 2, 2019