Ballard Power is shifting gears

Fuel-cell company has made several recent agreements and is on the lookout for acquisitions and joint ventures

Vancouver-based Ballard Power is forging new partnerships and collaboration agreements to help it commercialise and sell proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells to manufacturers of buses, trucks, trains and ships. The move comes despite the company shifting from being cash-starved to relatively cash-rich, with the stars finally aligning for ‘everything hydrogen’ over the past year or so. Ballard has arrived at the point where it is filling sub-segments within its heavy-duty mobility business and working to provide more integrated PEM fuel-cell solutions to its customers by striking agreements with up-and-coming companies. This is rather than working with big-name companies as in the past.