This fuel-cell forklift thing may be catching on after all…
Ballard Power saw a nice lift in its otherwise depressed stock price with the announcement today that it will supply at least 3,250 fuel cell stacks over the next 18 months to Plug Power, which will incorporate the stacks into its own fuel cell systems designed for the materials handling industry — i.e. forklifts. “Ballard anticipates that both the scale and cadence of associated product shipments will contribute to increased manufacturing efficiency and reduced fuel cell stack cost,” according to the company’s press release. Plug Power CEO Andy Marsh said the agreement with Ballard “is a reflection of the continuing growth of the sector, including new customers like Kroger Co. and repeat customers such as Sysco, who all feed into our manufacturing pipeline. Whole Foods, BMW, Central Grocers, Coca-Cola, FedEx Freight, Walmart Canada and Wegmans are among the companies now using Plug Power/Ballard fuel cell systems as part of their fleets of forklifts. Neither Ballard nor Plug Power are profitable yet, but they’re getting closer. That day when they get out of the red will be a long time coming and one to celebrate in the industry.
Tags: Ballard Power, forklifts, Plug Power
Tyler Hamilton is associate publisher and editor-in-chief of Corporate Knights magazine and former business columnist for the Toronto Star. This blog is a personal project started in April 2005.
July 19th, 2011 at 9:07 pm
Hi Tyler, check out our prototype windmill on the website, it incorporates a novel gyro force absorber and a vertical furl system, going into production soon, video of the furl on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkH4S9dqZ8g
cheers
Dave c
July 20th, 2011 at 11:10 am
Fuel cells, or cheaper faster-charging batteries?
I’m amazed by the number of Aussie innovations in green tech; just check out this latest one – how to make a fast-charging battery by mixing graphite and water. (Dan Li at Monash U.)
http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20111707-22398.html
(Don’t sink everything into lithium futures just yet.)