Ballard sells 3250 fuel cell stacks to Plug Power > Fuel Cell Dispatch

Ballard sells 3250 fuel cell stacks to Plug Power

Ballard Power Systems today announced a purchase order commitment from Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG - News) for a minimum 3,250 fuel cell stacks over the next 18-month period, for use in the material handling market.

The deal - structured under an existing equipment supply agreement between the companies that runs through 2014 - calls for Plug Power's minimum purchase of 3,250 Ballard fuel cell stacks by the end of 2012, with power levels ranging from 1.5 kilowatts to 20.0 kilowatts each. Ballard anticipates that both the scale and cadence of associated product shipments will contribute to increased manufacturing efficiency and reduced fuel cell stack cost.

John Sheridan, Ballard's President and CEO said, "This agreement enables further fuel cell stack cost reductions, which will strengthen competitiveness of fuel cell solutions compared to lead acid batteries. Together with ongoing systems development work underway at Plug Power, this will impact growth in the North American market and in Europe, as well."

Ballard FCvelocity®-9SSL fuel cell stacks are integrated by Plug Power into its line of GenDrive® systems, which the company has designed to address the complete range of class-1, -2 and -3 forklift trucks for the North American market. Plug Power is also working to develop GenDrive® systems with Ballard fuel cell stacks which can facilitate further reductions in system cost, expand the set of addressable applications and increase geographic reach.

Andy Marsh, President and CEO of Plug Power said, "As we drive toward profitability, Plug Power has seen orders accelerate, with material handling customers continuing to convert distribution center lift truck fleets to GenDrive hydrogen fuel cell power. This agreement with Ballard is a reflection of the continuing growth of the sector, including new customers like Kroger Co. and repeat customers such as Sysco, who all feed into our manufacturing pipeline."

Plug Power GenDrive® systems using Ballard fuel cell stacks have been deployed with a number of leading North American distributors and manufacturers, including Whole Foods, BMW, Central Grocers, Coca-Cola, FedEx Freight, Sysco, Walmart Canada and Wegmans.

About Ballard Power Systems
Ballard Power Systems (TSX:BLD.to - News) (NASDAQ:BLDP - News) provides clean energy fuel cell products enabling optimized power systems for a range of applications. Products contain proprietary esencia™ technology, ensuring incomparable performance, durability and versatility. To learn more about Ballard, please visit www.ballard.com.