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The previously made investment in hydrogen-powered vehicles from the company Noot from Ede was sidelined.

In its latest ruling, the Court of Appeal finds that the Municipality of The Hague rightly excludes hydrogen-powered vehicles from tendering for target group transport because they are not sustainable enough. The municipality of The Hague had previously announced a European tender for target group transport.

The current contractor Noot, who is currently carrying out a similar assignment in The Hague, uses vehicles with a hydrogen-electric drive for part of that transport. In the new tender documents of the tender procedure, the Municipality of The Hague has prescribed that the future contractor will only use battery-electric vehicles when carrying out the future contract, with the exception of a temporary exception for wheelchair transport.

The Court of Appeal thus confirms the judgment of the preliminary relief judge in the District Court of The Hague of 12 January 2022 rendered between the parties and thus the earlier judgment of the court. In other words, the investment made earlier in hydrogen-powered vehicles from the company Noot from Ede was sidelined. The lawsuit and appeal were filed by an operator, where Noot purchases his hydrogen, from a hydrogen filling station in The Hague.

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The cars refuel with hydrogen, which is converted into electrical energy in the vehicle by a so-called fuel cell.

The appellant also pointed to a Agreement framework for zero-emission taxi transport in which the national government and a number of municipalities, including the municipality, agree that they will facilitate the availability of, among other things, charging infrastructure for taxis. The Municipality of The Hague has drawn up a local action plan in consultation with Royal Dutch Transport (KNV). In drawing up this action plan, the local taxi companies were involved and questioned about the preconditions needed to accelerate the transition to emission-free consumer taxi transport.

alternative fuels

In March 2017, PIANOo adopted its Environmental Criteria for the Socially Responsible Procurement of Transport Services. The award criteria, which include a recommendation for the following award criterion GC3, state that, as a larger proportion of the vehicles to be used for the performance of the contract are designed for propulsion by alternative fuel types and/or for electric propulsion, a higher rating will be awarded. Examples of alternative fuels are CNG, bio-CNG (green gas) and liquid biofuels (such as ethanol or biodiesel). Alternative powertrains can be systems that run on electricity or hydrogen, or hybrid and plug-in hybrid systems.

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