Energy, Estonia, Gas, Legislation, Transport

The public procurement has been announced with an option to buy 50 more vehicles of this type. The deadline for bids is Jan. 29, 2021, according to TLT.

Member of the management board of TLT Otto Popel said in a press release that the objective of the procurement is to purchase up to 150 biomethane-powered buses and proceed with Tallinn's transition to environmentally friendly means of public transport.

"By renewing its vehicle fleet, the company is pursuing the objective of replacing all diesel buses with an environmentally friendly alternative by 2025 and introducing altogether 350 biogas buses on the routes," Popel said. 

Popel added that in order to do so, TLT is procuring 100 CNG buses in 2021 -- 75 regular and 25 articulated buses. 

"The procurement contract establishes the option of purchasing up to 50 more CNG buses," he said, adding that TLT has at present already introduced 100 biomethane-powered buses on the capital city's routes.

"The 100 Solaris CNG buses procured on the basis of the previous procurement's option agreement will be delivered to Tallinn in 2021. That means that in one year, there will be 200 CNG buses on the capital city's streets, which will have replaced the oldest diesel buses that are currently still in use," Popel noted.

The TLT management board member said that the winning bidder in the new procurement is to deliver the buses to TLT within a year from the signing of the agreement, that is by the start of 2020 at the latest.

The expected period of use for the buses is up to ten years with an average yearly mileage of 80,000 kilometers per bus.