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Ballard Receives Follow-On Order For Next Stage in Development of new NPMC-Based Fuel Cells

Vancouver, Canada - Ballard Power Systems has received a follow-on purchase order from Nisshinbo Holdings, an Environmental and Energy company, to progress a previously announced Technology Solutions program to the next stage.

As Ballard Power announced September 12, 2017 Technology Solutions work resulted in the incorporation of Nisshinbo’s Non Precious Metal Catalyst (NPMC) into the world’s first NPMC-based proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell product, which was made available for commercial sale in late-2017.

A subsequent Technology Solutions program was announced in Ballard’s September 18, 2017 press release to assess the potential for development of NPMC-based fuel cell stacks for use in commercial material handling applications. According to Ballard Power blue chip brands such as Walmart and Amazon have demonstrated the strong value proposition offered by current fuel cell-powered forklift trucks operating in high-throughput distribution centers.

With successful completion of the assessment, Ballard Power now announced the next stage will focus on certain performance and power density enhancements to support development of low cost NPMC-based fuel cell stacks for material handling applications.

“Our goal for this multi-year Technology Solutions program is to expand the serviceable addressable market for fuel cell-powered forklifts and accelerate market adoption through the commercialization of leading air-cooled and liquid-cooled fuel cell stacks that deliver against market requirements at the lowest possible cost,” said Dr. Kevin Colbow, Ballard’s Vice President – Technology and Product Development. “NPMC-based stacks represent a step-change in PEM fuel cell technology by dramatically reducing the amount of platinum that is needed. And, since platinum currently contributes 10-to-15% of the cost of a fuel cell stack, NPMC technology offers the potential for meaningful cost savings.”



Source: IWR Online, 26 Feb 2018

 


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