Hydrogen Mobile Fuelers for 40-Foot Hydrogen Fuel Cell Buses

The Orange County Transportation Authority is requesting proposals for two hydrogen mobile fuelers to support 40-foot hydrogen fuel cell buses under RFP 250236, with proposals due May 26, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. and mandatory site visits scheduled for May 6, 2026.

The scope requires two temporary hydrogen mobile fueling units—one deployed at the Santa Ana Base and one at the Garden Grove Base—each capable of dispensing gaseous hydrogen at 350 bar pressure to support a fleet of twenty-five buses within an eight-hour window. Each bus carries 37.5 kg of hydrogen storage. The dispenser must be rated for H35 operation and comply with SAE J2601-2 standards, equipped with either a WEH TK16-HF or WEH TK25 fast-fill nozzle or approved equivalent. Contractors must submit preliminary project schedules within five working days of Notice to Proceed and participate in weekly one-hour conference calls with bi-weekly or monthly updates. The installation and commissioning phase runs October 1, 2026 through March 31, 2027, with full operational status required by April 1, 2027. All work must comply with federal, state, and local regulations including fire code, NFPA, Cal/OSHA, NEC, ANSI, and NIOSH standards. Contractors must designate a Health, Safety, and Environmental Representative holding current Board of Certified Safety Professionals certification with a minimum of five years of construction experience; monthly Fuel Purity Certificates of Conformance verifying SAE J2719 compliance are required.

The contract is structured as time and expense with firm-fixed hourly rates covering labor, direct costs, indirect costs, disposal, cleanup, travel, overhead, freight, and all other associated costs. The estimated contract value is $6.779 billion for the one-year initial term (October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027), with two optional one-year renewal periods at identical annual amounts. Funding derives from local revenues and federal CMAQ sources.

Evaluation criteria are weighted as follows: Qualifications of the Firm (30%), Staffing/Project Organization (20%), Work Plan (25%), and Cost (25%). Proposals must not exceed 50 pages excluding appendices, cover letters, and resumes. A pre-proposal conference is scheduled for May 5, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. in hybrid format. Written questions are due by 5:00 p.m. on May 7, 2026, with OCTA responses posted by May 14, 2026. Interviews are scheduled for June 16, 2026. Insurance requirements include Commercial General Liability of $5 million per occurrence, Automobile Liability of $5 million combined single limit, Workers' Compensation as required by California law, Employers' Liability of $1 million per accident and per disease, Professional Liability of $5 million if applicable, and Pollution Legal Liability of $5 million per loss with $5 million annual aggregate, with OCTA named as primary and non-contributory additional insured.