Ballard Power, IdaTech and ACME Collaborating in Indian Fuel-Cell Deal

Ballard Power Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ:BLDP) (Burnaby, British Columbia), a global leader in the development, manufacture, sale and servicing of hydrogen fuel cells, has entered a three-way agreement with IdaTech LLC (Bend, OR) and the ACME group (Gurgaon, Haryana) to supply fuel cell stacks that would be used to manufacture 30,000 5-kilowatt (kW) natural-gas fuel-cell systems to the Indian market, according to Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, TX).

Ballard will supply fuel-cell products to IdaTech, a leading manufacturer of reliable proton-exchange membrane fuel-cell solutions for telecommunications, as well as commercial and industrial backup power ranging from 1 kW to 15 kW. These fuel-cell products will be integrated into natural-gas-fueled systems jointly by IdaTech and ACME, a leading advocate of green technologies in India involved in alternative energy, wastewater treatment. ACME is also a leader in providing solutions for the wireless telecommunications industry. IdaTech has agreed to supply 30,000 5-kW hydrogen fuel cell systems by 2013 to ACME. It is expected that the minimum order commitment of 10,000 units by 2010 will be fulfilled in two phases, with 1,000 units projected to be delivered in 2009 and 9,000 by 2010. The remaining order for 20,000 units will be delivered between 2011 and 2013.

The initial order of 10,000 units comprises 310 hydrogen fuel-cell systems and 9,690 natural-gas systems. Hydrogen fuel-cell systems will be shipped from IdaTech’s manufacturing facility in Tijuana, Mexico. The remaining 9,690 units will be assembled at a new facility in India. The proposed new assembling plant in India will replicate the low-cost model plant in Mexico and will not have any manufacturing operations, thereby requiring low capital to set up. The new plant will be set up as a joint venture between ACME and IdaTech, with the latter being the majority stakeholder. The facility will be three to four times larger in terms of capacity than the Mexico plant, which has a capacity of 3,000 units per year.

ACME proposes to install the fuel-cell systems for prolonged backup power at wireless base stations across India. The high-volume purchase of 10,000 units is expected to be beneficial to the domestic telecom sector by bringing in extended shelf life, reliability, a significant reduction in downtime, and by serving as an economical and environment-friendly operation.

The agreement is important to ACME, as Ballard has granted it exclusive rights for the sale and usage of fuel cells in stationary power applications across India until mid 2011. The fuel cells are permitted for use in telecom backup power applications in West Asia and Africa, excluding South Africa, until 2011, provided that the minimum buying order of 10,000 units is met. The rights are expected to continue until 2012 if 20,000 units are ordered further as stated in the agreement.

In March 2008, Ballard signed a three-year agreement with IdaTech to provide fuel cells for use in 250-watt iGen power supply. The strategic partnership would see IdaTech getting more than 1100 units from Ballard over the course of the agreement for its auxiliary power units that find application in telecom backup power systems. In addition, the two companies had signed another three-year agreement earlier this year under which Ballard would provide fuel-cell stacks for integration into IdaTech’s ElectraGen backup power systems.

www.ballard.com