Ballard Power Systems, a Canadian company, is a major player in the production of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC). It specializes in the production of high-power fuel cells for heavy mobility applications (buses, trains, ships, etc.).
History of Ballard Power Systems
Ballard Power Systems was founded in 1979 by Geoffrey Ballard, Keith Prater and Paul Howard to design high-capacity lithium batteries. However, in 1983 they shifted their focus to the development of proton exchange membrane fuel cells. After the design of a 5kW cell in 1990, things accelerated with a joint venture between Ballard, General Motors and the US Department of Energy in 1991, the development [beginning or end?] of a 90kW cell for hydrogen-powered buses in 1992, followed by a partnership with Daimler-Benz, and anIPO in 1993.
In 1997, the company founded a joint venture with Daimler and Ford , the Automotive Fuel Cell Cooperation (AFCC), to develop fuel cells for automobiles. From 1998 onwards, several tests of hydrogen-powered buses powered by Ballard fuel cells began:
- Three buses in Vancouver and Chicago in 1998.
- 30 hydrogen-powered buses in ten European cities, plus 3 in Perth (Australia) and 3 in Beijing (China).
In 2008, Ballard sells its AFCC shares to Daimler and Ford, focusing on fuel cell design for heavy-duty mobility.
In 2018, Weichai Power acquired, as part of a strategic cooperation, 19.9% of Ballard Power Systems for $163 million. The two companies also entered into a joint venture 51% owned by Weichai to supply the Chinese market with PACs.(source)
Ballard Power Systems products
Ballard Power Systems develops PEMFC fuel cells for heavy-duty mobility ranging from 30kW to 200kW.
- Ground transportation modules
- The FCmove range, from 70 to 100kW, for hydrogen-powered buses and trucks.
- FCveloCity, with power ratingsof 30, 85 or 100kW, for hydrogen-powered buses, trucks or trains.
- FCwave, the 200kW marine transport module designed to power hydrogen-powered ships.
- Stacks (“raw” set of cells)
- FCgen-HPS
- FCgen-LCS
- FCvelocity-9SSL
- FCgen-1020ACS
- Stationary systems
- FCgen-H2PM, for emergency power generation (1-60kW)
- FCwave, already mentioned (200-1200kW)
- ClearGen2: container-scale systems capable of generating from one to several MegaWatts.
In all, Ballard is said to have produced 850MW of PEMFC.
Ballard Power Systems in practice
When it comes to hydrogen applications, Ballard is undoubtedly one of the names that comes up most often. They equip several hydrogen bus lines: Solaris, Eldorado (California), Van Hool, Wrightbus and New Flyer buses. Other partnerships include one with Siemens and CRRC (China) to develop 200kW PACs for rail transport, and another with ABB to develop a 1MW PEMFC for marine applications(source)
Other hydrogen-related companies we have mentioned include:
- Hyvia : a joint venture between Renault Group and Plug Power to develop hydrogen-powered heavy-duty vehicles and hydrogen stations.
- Renault Group: one of the world’s leading carmakers, developing hydrogen-powered commercial vehicles.
- Genvia : a joint venture between the Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA) Liten, Schlumberger, Vicat, Vinci Construction and the Occitanie region to develop a reversible high-temperature electrolyzer.