Ballard and Synergy sign agreement to bring more hydrogen fuel cells to China

Hydrogen fuel cells are gaining more momentum in China

Ballard Power Systems, a leading developer of hydrogen fuel cells, has announced that it has signed an agreement with China’s Guangdong Nation Synergy Hydrogen Power Technology (Synergy). The agreement will allow Synergy to manufacture and sell Ballard’s FCgen-H2PM fuel cell system in China. The system operates as a backup power provider and could become quite popular in China, where the need for such solutions is growing at a rapid pace.

Synergy will have the right to manufacture and sell Ballard products

Through the agreement, Ballard is licensing the design of its 1.7 and 5 kilowatt FCgen-H2PM systems to Synergy. The company will be responsible for manufacturing these energy systems in the City of Yunfu. The agreement will also ensure that Synergy has exclusive rights to sell these energy systems. Synergy will be paying a fee of $2.5 million for the licensing it needs to manufacture and sell Ballard products. Per the agreement, Ballard will also be the exclusive provider of air-cooled fuel cell stacks, which will be used with the other energy systems that Synergy will be manufacturing and selling.

Fuel cells continue to become attractive as backup energy systems in China

Hydrogen fuel cells have become quite popular in China, especially as backup energy systems. Fuel cells can be used to generate electrical power through the consumption of hydrogen. These energy systems produce no harmful emissions, making them ideal for use indoors. Most notable, fuel cells are very durable and do not rely on outside energy sources to produce electrical power. As such, fuel cells can be used in remote locations that are not connected to an existing energy grid and still generate electrical power.

China has become an attractive market for fuel cell developers

China is seen as a very promising fuel cell market. Several companies within the fuel cell industry have been working to break into this market in recent years. Ballard is one of the few to have established a foothold in China. The company has previously worked with Synergy, forming many licensing and equipment supply deals. In 2015, the two companies signed the largest every fuel cell bus agreement, which will see the deployment of 300 buses powered by hydrogen fuel cells in two cities.