Ballard Power Systems Inc. (TSX:BLD; NASDAQ:BLDP) has received a supply contract from General Hydrogen for more than 100 fuel cells for lift truck market.
The Mark9 SSL(TM) fuel cells range in power output from 4.8 kilowatts to 21.1 kilowatts, and will be integrated into General Hydrogen’s power units, currently available for early commercial sales in the lift truck market.
Ballard expects to begin unit deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2005. The Supply Agreement runs through the fourth quarter of 2006.
“Our Mark9 SSL(TM) fuel cells are attracting a great deal of interest from potential customers worldwide. The flexibility of our Mk 902 fuel cell platform, which was developed for automotive applications, provides systems integrators like General Hydrogen with a high-value, cost-effective alternative to the conventional technologies being used in fork lift applications today,” said Noordin Nanji, Ballard’s Vice President, Marketing & Business Development.
“We are now into commercial sales and this agreement with Ballard provides a solid foundation going forward, as we have secured a source of product that will allow us to be extremely competitive in the Class 1 forklift truck market,” said Frank Trotter, General Hydrogen’s President and CEO. “The lift truck market for battery replacement technology is here and now and represents a major market opportunity for General Hydrogen. The market is driven not only by the economic need to be as efficient as possible, but also the requirement to meet ever-increasing environmental standards in the workplace for the health and safety of workers. This agreement allows for future negotiations to further enhance our price competitiveness once we get certain volume sales, which we are very optimistic about.”
Available now to customers with fuel cell integration capabilities, the liquid-cooled, hydrogen-fueled Mark9 SSL(TM) (scalable series, liquid cooled) fuel cell is designed to perform in rugged conditions, can be configured for motive or stationary power applications, and is scalable in power increments from 4 kilowatts to 21 kilowatts depending on customer requirements. Featuring fast, dynamic response and robust and reliable operation, Ballard’s Mark9 SSL(TM) fuel cell establishes a new standard of performance by optimizing reliability, power density and compatibility with customer system requirements.
General Hydrogen Corporation is a Delaware private corporation. Its wholly owned operating subsidiary, General Hydrogen (Canada) Corporation, is based in Richmond, British Columbia. Its customer development facility is located in Gallatin, Tennessee. General Hydrogen’s engineering team has more than 300 person years of fuel cell experience going back over 20 years to the development of the first modern fuel cell by company founders Geoffrey Ballard and Paul Howard.
General Hydrogen’s battery replacement technology features more than double the working time of conventional lead acid batteries, and enables shorter overall change-out time and a very short payback period.
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