Ballard inks $10M clean energy bus deal in China
By Design Engineering Staff
General Sustainability Automotive China Fuel-cell ManufacturingFuel cell technology will support the deployment of 33 clean-energy buses in two Chinese cities.
VANCOUVER — Ballard Power Systems has signed definitive license and supply agreements with eNantong Zehe New Energy Technology Co. Ltd. and Guangdong Synergy Hydrogen Power Technology Co. Ltd. to provide fuel cell power products and technology for the planned deployment of 33 fuel cell-powered buses in China.
The deal is worth $10 million.
Ballard and Zehe will work with electric bus manufacturer Jiangsu GreenWheel New Energy Electric Vehicle Co. Ltd. in the city of Rugao in Jiangsu province.
Ballard and Synergy are collaborating with electric bus manufacturer Foshan Feichi Automobile Manufacturing Co. Ltd. in the city of Yunfu in Guangdong province.
Both municipal government plan to deploy fuel cell bus fleets by 2016.
The size and rapid growth of China’s economy has resulted in considerably larger carbon dioxide emissions than other nations. In 2013, for example, China’s carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels accounted for 29% of the global total, compared to 15% from the US.
As a result, an energy program was launched in 2011 involving 48 Chinese cities to expand public transit while also reducing the number of vehicles in cities. One of the program’s specific goals is to deploy more than 1,000 clean energy buses in each of the participating cities by taking advantage of government subsidies.
Ballard, based in Vancouver, develops clean energy fuel cell products.
