Exclusive: First won’t rule out handing back Aberdeen’s hydrogen buses amid lack of council promises on fuel supply

By Gbam Godwin On Feb 24, 2026

Exclusive: First won’t rule out handing back Aberdeen’s hydrogen buses amid lack of council promises on fuel supply.

Council leaders hope to have hydrogen to fuel the city’s fleet shortly… but there’s no guarantee the fuel will be shared with First Bus, whose leased double deckers are still stuck at the depot.

Aberdeen’s hydrogen drought may soon come to an end, more than 18 months after the city’s multi-million-pound H-powered bus fleet was forced off the road due to pump troubles.

Top officials are optimistic that the council “will be able to access hydrogen fuel early this year”. Operations chief Mark Reilly was less ready to commit to a specific day or even a month when the taps would be opened.

Even if that occurs, The P&J can reveal that it is uncertain whether the hydrogen will be provided to First Bus in order to get the buses back on the roads.

A key councillor has also conceded that there is a danger that First Bus would become dissatisfied and return their leased buses worth £500,000 to the council. The Aberdeen-based corporation hasn’t ruled it out.

In November, the city council blamed “supply chain delays due to bespoke material requirements” for the delay in fixing two Aberdeen hydrogen fuelling stations.

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Hydrogen is predicted to play a significant part in the economic future of Aberdeen.

The city council has committed approximately £20 million to the first phase of its joint venture with BP to manufacture green hydrogen from solar power at the former Ness landfill in Torry.

One of Aberdeen's world-first hydrogen double decker buses refuelling. Image: Aberdeen City Council — One of Aberdeen’s world-first hydrogen double decker buses refuelling. Image: Aberdeen City Council

Aberdeen has been an early adopter of hydrogen vehicles, as the council seeks to demonstrate the fuel’s feasibility on a wide scale market.

The renewable fuel from the Hareness Road hydrogen hub is intended to power the city’s fleet of hydrogen vehicles, which includes 25 buses.

It is expected to start manufacturing this year. However, there is hope that output may be increased to provide enough fuel for rail, freight and maritime operations, as well as home heating and export.

Fleet boss not sure how long Aberdeen has been without hydrogen fuel

However, the city that has championed the possibilities of hydrogen has been shortchanged since July 2024. Aberdeen City Council vowed to debut the world’s first H-powered double deckers in 2021.

They were purchased by the city as part of an £8.3 million project supported by the European Union and the Scottish Government.

During the interruption, the local authority’s dual-fuel bin vehicles were left burning diesel. When questioned by Aberdeen City Council’s finance committee, Mr Reilly appeared to avoid giving a solid answer at all.

“It’s been quite some time that we’ve had hydrogen fuel available to put into those vehicles we have converted,” he was saying sheepishly.

“At the moment, as far as I’m aware, we’re anticipating hydrogen fuel being available in the early part of this year and we will recommence converting vehicles to hydrogen.”

Alex Nicoll, an independent councillor, argued for “a little more precision”. The cynic from the neighbourhood continued:

“We’ve seen press reports of 20 buses, which I think are owned by First Bus, sitting idle and presumably we haven’t been able to use any of the hydrogen for our dual-fuel fleet either?”

First Bus doesn’t own Aberdeen hydrogen buses… and won’t rule out handing them back

Mr Reilly did not correct him on the ownership of the H-powered bus fleet, instead stating that he thought the council “should be able to access hydrogen fuel early this year”

.”Certainly it’s been over a year but exactly how long it has been since we’ve last used hydrogen I couldn’t actually say,” he told me.

Aberdeen City Council's chief operations officer Mark Reilly. Image: Kath Flannery/DC Thomson — Aberdeen City Council’s chief operations officer Mark Reilly. Image: Kath Flannery/DC Thomson

If the council operations manager did not make ownership obvious, First Bus was quick to clarify. Aberdeen City Council owned the £500k vehicles, and First Bus leased them, according to a brief statement provided to The P&J.

A spokesperson confirmed the statement: “Our discussions with the council are ongoing and there is nothing further to add at this time.”

Allard: Unclear if Aberdeen City Council can or will fuel First’s hydrogen buses

And Christian Allard, SNP council co-leader, is deeply concerned about the ownership distinction, which First Bus has emphasised so strongly.

Last April, he stated that the city’s hydrogen refuelling infrastructure should be operational by “summer and, if not, definitely autumn” of 2025.

They were not. “I know First Bus got more electric buses since we had no hydrogen fuel,” he said. “I’m not sure if they have an overabundance of buses currently.”They have a lot of buses.”

Council co-leaders Christian Allard and Ian Yuill, on either side of First Bus Scotland managing director Duncan Cameron. Image: First

Mr Allard acknowledged that there was a risk of First Bus returning the hydrogen fleet if Aberdeen City Council did not begin delivering fuel shortly. He added: “Council officials are trying really hard to restart production at Teca.

“And once that happens, we’ll have a better notion of what we can accomplish and whether the council can do the same thing we did before.

“It’s an open thing. How we proceed now is entirely up to us. We need to communicate with First Bus again. “And I’m not going to blame anyone for where we’re at with our hydrogen infrastructure.”

“California is another early adopter of hydrogen and they are in the same place we are.”

Aberdeen’s hydrogen drought compared to California

The Golden State was forced to halt operations at its state-run Arches hydrogen hub following cuts imposed by US President Donald Trump in November.