Ballard Power Receives New Orders for Fuel Cell Powered Train and Buses
Vancouver, Calgary / Canada - Fuel cell manufacturer Ballard Power has received new orders for fuel cell systems in the heavy duty sector.
Ballard Fuel Cells to power CP hydrogen locomotive program
Ballard Power and the railway company Canadian Pacific (CP) announced that CP will employ Ballard fuel cell modules for CP’s pioneering Hydrogen Locomotive Program. The modules will provide a total of 1.2 megawatts of electricity to power the locomotive. Ballard plans to deliver six of its 200-kilowatt fuel cell modules to CP in 2021. In addition Ballard will provide support to enable integration of the modules into the locomotive.
Through its Hydrogen Locomotive Program, CP will develop North America’s first hydrogen-powered line-haul freight locomotive by retrofitting a formerly diesel-powered locomotive with hydrogen fuel cells. The fuel cells will work with battery technology to power the locomotive’s electric traction motors. Once operational, CP will conduct rail service trials and qualification testing to evaluate the technology’s readiness for the freight-rail sector.
“This technology holds the possibility of eliminating emissions from freight train operations, which already represent the most efficient method of moving goods over land”, said CP President and CEO Keith Creel. „In addition to Ballard’s work focused on powering commuter trains in Europe and urban trams in China, CP’s Hydrogen Locomotive Program in North America underscores the strong fit for zero-emission fuel cells to power heavy- and medium-duty motive applications, including trains, for which it is otherwise difficult to abate emissions”, added Ballard President and CEO Randy MacEwen.
Ballard receives fuel cell follow-on order from Wrightbus for Buses in the U.K.
Ballard Power also announced a follow-on purchase orders from the irish bus OEM and Ballard partner Wrightbus for a total of 50 fuel cell modules to power Fuel Cell Electric Buses (FCEBs). The buses will be partially funded under the JIVE (Joint Initiative For Hydrogen Vehicles Across Europe) program.
The orders for the 50 fuel cell modules are incremental to the previous orders for 50 modules, which was referenced by Ballard’s on June 16, 2020, with all 50 of those modules having shipped in 2020. Of the additional 50 modules announced now, 4 were shipped in 2020. All of these additional modules will power buses planned for deployment in a number of U.K. cities, including Birmingham, Aberdeen, London and Belfast.
„The Fuel Cell Electric Bus market is now gaining momentum and is expected to continue on an aggressive growth path in Europe and globally“, said Ballard Chief Commercial Operator Rob Campbell with regard to the new order from Wrightbus.
The JIVE program provides partial funding for a total of 295 Fuel Cell Electric Buses, of which 120 are currently operating in the U.K., France, Italy, Denmark, Latvia, and The Netherlands. The remaining 175 FCEBs are expected to be deployed in various European cities by mid-2022. As Ballard points out, the company is supplying fuel cell modules for more than 85 percent of the FCEBs deployed and ordered to date under the JIVE program.
share price climbs
The Ballard Power share is gaining on today's trading day and is currently trading with a plus of 10.15 percent at 21.93 euros (09:57, 10.03.2021, Stuttgart Stock Exchange). The share price is thus trading around 38 percent below the annual high of 34.8 euros on February 09, 2021. Over the year, the share is currently up around 22 percent.
Source: IWR Online, 10 Mar 2021
