VANCOUVER, (March 8, 2010) - CNW - Ballard
Power Systems has received $6.2
million in project funding from the U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE) under contract over a four year period. Ballard
Material Products, a U.S. subsidiary of Ballard Power Systems, was
awarded $4.1 million as prime for a
contract that will focus on improvements in fuel cell durability
and cost.
Additionally, Ballard will be sub-contractor to leading U.S.
technology organizations for several other fuel cell research and
development projects funded by the DOE.
"We are excited to be working with a technology
leader such as Ballard Power Systems," said Dr. Rod Borup, Fuel
Cell Program Manager, Institute for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Research
at Los Alamos National Laboratory, one of Ballard's project
partners.
"This is important work in support of the DOE goal to move fuel
cell technology closer to large scale commercialization. Our
collaborations with Ballard are in the areas of understanding and
improving fuel cell durability and reducing technology cost, which
are the primary enablers to rapid market adoption of fuel cell
systems."
Over eighty percent of the announced DOE funding has been
allocated to projects aimed at increased durability and cost
reduction, with the remaining funds focused on water management
modeling.
The project for which Ballard Material Products will be prime is
meant to improve the understanding of fuel cell materials and
components degradation, leading to recommended mitigation
strategies to facilitate further commercialization. Resulting
advancements will facilitate commercialization of fuel cells for a
range of applications, including stationary power generation.
In addition to Los Alamos
National Laboratory, Ballard will be partnering with other leading
U.S. technology organizations, including Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory,
Sandia National Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology,
Michigan Technical University, University of Hawaii at Manoa and
University of New Mexico.
"The receipt of significant funding from the DOE clearly
demonstrates the Department of Energy's interest in fuel cell
market adoption," said Dr. Christopher
Guzy, Chief Technology Officer at Ballard Power Systems.
"This funding is completely aligned with Ballard's plans to
continue investing in strategic enhancements of non-automotive fuel
cell products."