The subsidy from IROP will help with the purchase of 12 additional electric buses
The transport company succeeded with two applications for support from the Integrated Regional Operational Programme (IROP), thanks to which it will be able to continue renewing its fleet of emission-free vehicles in the coming years.
Both projects include the purchase of 12 new electric buses, the delivery of which is planned for 2028 and 2029. The transport company plans to purchase a further 8 vehicles at the same time, thereby renewing the entire fleet in this segment.
„We submitted two applications for subsidies for electric buses. There are six vehicles in each project,“ explains Martin Petřík, the technical development and environmental coordinator of the transport company. The division into two separate projects is related to the maximum possible amount of support per project. The current IROP call is specifically intended for the purchase of emission-free vehicles for public transport.
Compared to some subsidy programs from previous years, this time there is a significantly lower share of the subsidy itself. „The subsidy amount is 50 percent, whereas previously it used to be around 85 percent,“ points out Martin Petřík. However, approval of applications for transport companies means primarily certainty that they can count on subsidy support when planning the purchase of new vehicles.
Decisions regarding vehicles for 2028 are being made today
The successful job application is by no means the end of the process. Martin Petřík subsequently also contributes to the preparation and implementation of the selection process for the actual vehicles. Therefore, when processing the grant project, it is necessary to determine quite precisely what technical parameters the future electric buses will meet.
„I already need to know what we will require from the vehicles that are to arrive in approximately two years,“ he says. The grant conditions do contain a number of technical requirements that must subsequently be reflected in the tender documentation.
One of them is also the charging method. New vehicles must be compatible with the required European standard. For the transport company this means not only purchasing the electric buses themselves, but also preparing changes to the charging infrastructure. According to current requirements, the existing two-pole charging method will need to be adapted to accommodate the new four-pole system. This will also be the subject of further technical preparations and a likely separate project.
Another request is headed to Placice
The road transport project related to electromobility does not end with the purchase of buses. The transport company has also submitted another application for support, this time for the bus depot in Placovice. The evaluation and completion of the required information are currently underway for this project.
„The number of documents that need to be prepared is huge, and after submission, we usually receive additional questions. The entire evaluation process can therefore take several months,“ explains Martin Petřík.
The successful applications for 12 electric buses are therefore only one, albeit very important, part of the long-term preparation. Before the new vehicles appear on the streets of Hradec Králové, the transport company is awaiting a tender, the clarification of technical parameters, the preparation of the necessary infrastructure, and other grant and investment projects.