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Ballard to Supply 2,900 More Mark 9 SSL Fuel Cells to General Hydrogen
11 October 2006
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| Ballard Mark 9 SSL stack. |
Ballard Power Systems has signed a follow-on supply agreement with General Hydrogen Corporation for 2,900 Mark 9 SSL fuel cells valued at approximately US$22 Million. These fuel cells are for integration into General Hydrogen’s Hydricity packs that are being sold to customers converting from conventional lead-acid batteries in their materials-handling fleets.
Under the agreement, Ballard expects to ship fuel cells ranging in size from 4 to 20 kW, with roughly one-quarter of these units to ship in 2007, and the balance to ship in 2008. This year, through September 30, 2006, Ballard has shipped 100 Mark 9 SSL fuel cells. With this agreement, Ballard has exceeded its publicly stated corporate goal of shipping or booking 300 Mark 9 SSL units in 2006.
Fuel cells offer a number of advantages for electric materials handling equipment over a conventional lead-acid battery system: tripling the runtime; providing constant power throughout the shift; and eliminating battery changing. (Earlier post.)
The Mark 9 SSL stack is based on Ballard’s fourth generation Mark 902 transportation stack technology.
General Hydrogen is headquartered in Richmond, British Columbia, near Vancouver. It is a private Delaware-registered company started by Dr. Geoffrey Ballard and Paul Howard, the original founders of Ballard Power Systems.
October 11, 2006 in Fuel Cells, Hydrogen | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
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Comments
PEM fuel cell price coming down? Assuming that the average size will be around 12 KW, this seems to indicate an average price of about $632/KW. This compares favourably with current price for Lithium battery packs.
At the same reduced price, a 80KW cell stack for a compact car, would cost up to $50 000. It is much better than the $300 000+ of a few years ago. Another 6:1 price drop to about $8000 for a compact car would be viable. Will Lithum batteries or on-board quick charge ESD be able to compete?
Posted by: Harvey D. | Oct 11, 2006 8:44:04 AM
GE is also making great strides in bring down the cost of electrolyzers. Making H2 created from water at under $3/kg a practical reality.
http://www.carbonfree.co.uk/cf/news/wk41-0005.htm
Posted by: Richard Dupont | Oct 12, 2006 3:00:47 AM
Harvey, $632/kW is an order of magnitude more expensive than Li-ion batteries.
Lithium batteries are often quoted on a $/kWh basis (not $/kW), and I often see numbers in the $600/kWh range for a full-function battery pack ($400/kWh or so for raw batteries). But if you do the math the cost/kW is below $100. If A123Systems meets their cost targets they'll drive this below $30/kW.
Posted by: doggydogworld | Oct 13, 2006 8:50:45 AM
