Plug Power Inc. and Ballard Power Systems Inc. have been awarded $3.5 million by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to collaborate on the next phase of fuel cell systems development to support the DoD’s Continuity of Operations (COOP) initiative. Plug Power and Ballard have worked together since early 2006 on backup power applications that target the U.S. DoD and Department of Homeland Security and other government agencies. The companies will continue to work collaboratively on a modular and scaleable fuel cell system for use in telecommunication and other mission-critical backup applications. Prototype system trials are expected to be deployed in 2008 with both government and commercial customers.
Government investment enabled first-phase technology evaluation of the backup power solution. This further funding, for the second phase, will facilitate delivery of systems to customers for validation of product requirements.
“This award from the Department of Defense accelerates joint development activities that move us toward a product that supports the critical infrastructure needs of public and private clients across a number of applications and industries,” said Roger Saillant, Plug Power’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “The funding acts as a catalyst that unites Plug Power’s established leadership in the development and commercialization of backup power solutions with Ballard’s latest technology, the Mark1020 ACS(TM) fuel cell stack. We expect this project will result in superior backup power solutions for telecommunications and other mission-critical applications.”
“Governments play a critical role in bringing technologies to market that provide economic, environmental and security benefits to society as a whole,” said John Sheridan, Ballard’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Moving into the second phase of this collaboration with Plug Power illustrates how government, in the role of both investor and end customer, moves new technology forward.” Sheridan continued, “Both phases are prerequisites for early stage commercialization of fuel cell solutions to provide customers with clean, reliable backup power.”
The award will be administered through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Engineer Research and Development Center Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (ERDC-CERL), which focuses on the evaluation and installation of fuel cell power plants for stationary applications, including infrastructure, environmental, water resources and disaster operations.
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