(Bloomberg) — Ballard Power Systems Inc., a Canadian maker
of fuel-cell technology, agreed to supply systems that will
power eight buses in China.
The modules are expected to be shipped this year to a
customer that wasn’t named in a statement Wednesday from the
Burnaby, British Columbia-based company. The buses will “be
deployed in a number of Chinese cities.” Terms weren’t
disclosed.
China is seeking to deploy more than 1,000 clean-energy
buses as part of a 2011 energy program that federally subsidizes
new transportation technologies, according to the statement.
Buses powered by fuel cells or electricity are eligible to
receive about $150,000 through 2017.
“We are now beginning to see meaningful evidence of
growing demand for clean-energy, mass-transportation
alternatives in China,” Randy MacEwen, Ballard’s president and
chief executive officer, said in the statement. “This demand is
being driven by a pressing need to address China’s challenging
air-quality issues.”
Fuel cells produce electricity from hydrogen or natural gas
through a chemical reaction.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Justin Doom in New York at
jdoom1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at
landberg@bloomberg.net
Will Wade, Robin Saponar