Ballard and Chart Industries to jointly develop liquid hydrogen technology

Ballard Power Systems (a Canadian developer and manufacturer of PEM fuel cell products) has signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Chart Industries, Inc. (an American manufacturer of cryogenic equipment ) for the joint development of integrated system solutions.

The agreement covers a fuel cell engine with onboard liquid hydrogen (LH2) storage and vaporisation for the transportation industry, focusing on heavy-duty applications including buses, trucks, rail and marine vessels. The collaboration aims to enable accelerated adoption of hydrogen in heavy-duty transport applications requiring long-range, rapid refuelling and lowest total cost of ownership of the vehicle.

Under the agreement, Chart will provide liquid hydrogen expertise from liquefaction plant to storage, fuelling & onboard tanks; extensive truck LNG tank experience; an existing liquid hydrogen onboard vehicle tank prototype design; fuel to vehicle connection/interface experience; LH2 test lab in Minnesota, US.

Ballard will provide Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell technology expertise; PEM fuel cell stacks, modules and systems; fuel cell mobility experience with over 70m km of vehicle operation; market access to System Integrators and vehicle OEMs; fuel cell testing facilities in British Columbia, Canada and Denmark.

Jill Evanko, Chart’s CEO and President said: “Given both of our companies’ extensive experience in Class 8 long haul truck, bus, rail and marine areas of transportation as well as hydrogen, this combination of expertise will create a unique, differentiated and cost-effective solution for transportation customers as the industry moves to cleaner power.”

Randy MacEwen, Ballard President and CEO, said: “Together with Chart, we intend to help simplify customers’ buying decisions, regardless of the specific Heavy-Duty Motive application being addressed.”