Ballard Fuel Cells Power Tangshan Railway Vehicle Co. Hybrid Urban Tram in China
Ballard’s FCveloCity®-HD fuel cell module has successfully powered another urban tram, this one designed and built by Tangshan Railway Vehicle Co. Ltd. (TRC) in China’s Hebei Province. TRC is part of CRRC, the largest heavy duty vehicle manufacturer in that country. Previously, in March 2015, a tram built by CSR Qingdao Sifang Company, a Chinese rolling stock manufacturer based in Qingdao, Shandong Province and powered by Ballard was also demonstrated.
The Ballard FCveloCity®-HD power module used in TRC’s demonstration tram is an earlier generation module that has been generally used to power buses. In November, 2015 Ballard announced that it had signed a definitive agreement with TRC for development of a new fuel cell module designed to meet the specific requirements of tram or Modern Ground Rail Transit Equipment applications – that fuel cell module development program, representing an important step toward a commercial product, is now underway, and is progressing on track and on time.
Randy MacEwen, Ballard’s President and CEO said, “The growing need for mass transit solutions in China, together with acknowledgement of the severe air quality issues, certainly makes fuel cell-powered trams an intriguing market opportunity. The interest being shown by China’s tram OEMs represents a strong signal and Ballard is well positioned to address this opportunity.”
The tram just demonstrated by TRC, and pictured above, is powered by an FCveloCity®-HD module along with supercapacitors – making this the first of its kind anywhere in the world.
