- Applications from Ballard Power Systems totalling US$40 million were selected and recommended for negotiation of financial awards
- The grants come from the U.S. Department of Energy and will support the company’s construction and build-out of an integrated fuel cell production gigafactory based in Rockwall, Texas
- Dubbed Ballard Rockwall Giga 1, the new facility will be on an 89,000-square-metre parcel of industrial land
- Shares of Ballard Power Systems last traded at C$3.75
Applications from Ballard Power Systems (TSX:BLDP) totalling US$40 million were selected and recommended for negotiation of financial awards.
The grants come under the Clean Hydrogen Electrolysis, Manufacturing and Recycling Program from the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
The grants will support the company’s construction and build-out of an integrated fuel cell production gigafactory based in Rockwall, Texas.
Dubbed Ballard Rockwall Giga 1, the new facility will be on a parcel of 89,000 square metres of industrial land within the Rockwall Technology Park.
In Phase I, Ballard plans to invest approximately US$160 million (net of the US$40 million in expected DOE grants) from 2024 through the end of 2027 to build and commission a new manufacturing facility with annual production capacity of 8 million membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs), 8 million bipolar plates, 20,000 fuel cell stacks and up to 20,000 fuel cell engines per year, or the equivalent of 3 gigawatts of fuel cells.
Ballard can move ahead with future phases at the site given the potential with the land acquisition rights and facility design. The company expects future phases will increase production scaling and capacity expansion with much lower capital requirements.
“We are grateful for the strong support of the DOE’s hydrogen policies that position the U.S. for future scaling of hydrogen and fuel cells,” Randy MacEwen, Ballard’s president and chief executive officer said in a news release. “This is particularly important as the U.S. accelerates a path towards environmental sustainability and energy security, while continuing to boost domestic manufacturing and bolster critical supply chains. We are also excited to unveil the next stage of our ‘local for local’ manufacturing strategy, which will feature cutting-edge fuel cell manufacturing technologies across our fuel cell production value chain, enabling cost competitive solutions at scale.”
Ballard expects to make a final investment decision on this facility later this year.
Ballard Power Systems’ principal business is the design, development, manufacture, sale and service of proton exchange membrane fuel cell products for a variety of applications, focusing on power products for bus, truck, rail, marine, stationary and emerging market (material handling, off-road and other) applications.
Shares of Ballard Power Systems last traded at C$3.75. In the past month, Ballard stock has lost 11.97 per cent.
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