Ballard Power Systems, a provider of fuel cell products for a range of applications, will participate in four Federal Transit Administration (FTA) projects for development and deployment of fuel cell buses under the National Fuel Cell Bus Program.
Under these projects, Ballard will deliver four FCvelocity fuel cell power modules in 2011 from its Lowell, Massachusetts facility, one each to system integrators BAE Systems, Proterra, EVAmerica and DesignLine USA.
These four Ballard fuel cell power modules, one of which will produce 150kW of power and the remaining three will each produce 75kW of power, will be integrated into hybrid electric drive systems on transit buses slated for operation in Alabama, Illinois, Ohio and South Carolina.
The National Fuel Cell Bus Program is aimed at reducing fuel cell bus cost, expanding the supply chain and demonstrating fuel cell buses with transit agencies, potentially leading to larger procurements in future.
Ballard chief commercial officer Michael Goldstein said that these awards are enabling four sophisticated system integrators to incorporate Ballard zero-emission fuel cell technology into a range of innovative vehicle configurations.