Ballard Signs $12 Million Agreement For Fuel Cell Stacks to Power Commercial Buses in China
Ballard Power Systems recently announced that it has signed an Equipment Supply Agreement (ESA), valued at $12 million, with Guangdong Synergy Hydrogen Power Technology Co., Ltd. (“Synergy”) to provide FCvelocityTM-9SSL fuel cell stacks for use in commercial buses in China. Ballard expects to deliver the stacks in 2016 and 2017.
Synergy will collaborate with Dongfeng Xiangyangtouring Car Co., Ltd. (“DFAC”), which is part of Dongfeng Motor Corporation, a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Wuhan. Dongfeng Motor Corporation is the largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles in China.
“The momentum we have been experiencing over the past year in China has been primarily driven by heavy duty motive power applications, specifically to power mass transit buses and urban trams,” said Randy MacEwen, Ballard President and CEO. “This ESA builds on that momentum, as Ballard’s leading PEM technology will be deployed for range extension applications in commercial buses.”
Mr. MacEwen continued, “We are pleased to see DFAC supporting the largest planned deployment of fuel cell hybrid commercial vehicles globally. And, this agreement contributes to a record sales order book for Ballard, as we begin 2016.”
Each FCvelocityTM-9SSL fuel cell stack will deliver approximately 15 kilowatts (kW) of power, appropriate for range extension applications. The ESA for fuel cell stacks signed today is in addition to agreements that Ballard previously announced for heavy duty power applications in China.
The previously announced agreements reflect $27 million in relation to more than 330 buses (as per press releases issued on June 8 and September 25, 2015) and also reflect $9 million in relation to 10 urban trams together with related product development activities (as per press releases issued on September 28 and November 1, 2015).
