Ballard Signs $11-Million Deal for Fuel Cell Bus Tech in China

Ballard Power | BCBusiness
Ballard’s largest fuel cell-powered bus fleet is currently in Whistler, B.C.

Ballard Power Systems Inc. has entered a multi-year agreement to help Azure Hydrogen build zero emission fuel cell buses

At a clean tech conference in Shanghai, Ballard president and CEO John Sheridan signed a deal with China’s Azure Hydrogen that paves the way for the Canadian company’s entry into China’s clean tech market.

 
Using Ballard’s fuel cell technology, Azure plans to partner with Chinese bus manufacturers in a multi-year development program valued at $11 million over the first 12-month phase. This includes licensing, equipment and engineering support services.
 
If the bus program progresses according to Azure’s plan the licenses will generate much higher revenue over the coming years, says Ballard CFO Tony Guglielmin.
 
Azure, a Bejing-based clean tech company, will assemble Ballard’s FCvelocity-HD7 bus power modules in China with fuel cell stacks supplied exclusively by the Burnaby-based manufacturer.
 
Ballard’s latest model, the FCvelocity-HD7, will be the seventh generation of the company’s fuel cell power technology. Previous models have been widely distributed in zero-emissions demonstration projects throughout Europe and North America.
 
“Ballard will continue to manufacture the core fuel cell stack here in Vancouver, and Azure will buy the stack and then assemble in China,” says Gugleilmin.
 
Big losses and multi-million dollar contracts have made for a mixed year for Ballard. The company is fresh off of an agreement to supply Volkswagen with engineering services worth between $60 million and $100 million over four years, and has renewed agreements with automakers Ford and Renault-Nissan. However, Ballard has recorded a profit only once in its 24-year history, in 2008, when it sold the assets of its automotive division to Daimler Ford. The company reported a loss of US$43.5 million in fiscal 2012.