Ballard’s fortunes rise with China bus deal announcement

VANCOUVER — Shares of Ballard Power Systems gained more than 10 per cent Wednesday after it signed a deal with its Chinese partner to extend the scope of their collaboration to include fuel cell buses. Under the non-binding memorandum of understanding announced late Tuesday, Azure Hydrogen Corp. has committed a $1 million up-front payment to Ballard.

The MOU with Azure envisions Ballard providing a manufacturing license agreement, engineering services, fuel cell stacks and components. As the MOU is non-binding, it is not a certainty that a definitive contract will be completed, however, the parties will move into the contract phase in the next several months.

Azure plans to develop fuel cell bus capabilities in China with Ballard’s technical support and funding from Chinese sources, including both private investors as well as various levels of Government. If Azure is successful with its plans, the collaboration under this MOU would lead to the deployment of zero emission fuel cell buses in China.

In March, Azure signed a deal to acquire a 10 per cent stake in Dantherm Power, Ballard’s telecom backup power subsidiary, for $2 million. Azure also placed an order earlier this year for a 175-kilowatt ClearGen distributed power generation system from Ballard.

Ballard shares were up 24 cents at $2.13 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Wednesday morning.

© 2013 The Canadian Press