Ballard Power Systems Inc. (Ballard) engages in the design, development, manufacture, sale and service of PEM fuel cell products for a variety of applications, focusing on its market verticals of bus, truck, rail, marine, stationary power, and emerging markets, as well as offering engineering services, product and systems integration services, and related technology transfer for a variety of PEM fuel cell applications.
Strategy
The company strives to build value for its shareholders by develop...
Ballard Power Systems Inc. (Ballard) engages in the design, development, manufacture, sale and service of PEM fuel cell products for a variety of applications, focusing on its market verticals of bus, truck, rail, marine, stationary power, and emerging markets, as well as offering engineering services, product and systems integration services, and related technology transfer for a variety of PEM fuel cell applications.
Strategy
The company strives to build value for its shareholders by developing, manufacturing, selling, and servicing zero-emission, industry-leading PEM fuel cell technology products and services to meet the needs of the company’s customers in target markets. More specifically, the company’s business plan is to leverage its core competencies of PEM fuel cell stack technology and engine development and manufacturing, the company’s investments in advanced manufacturing and production capacity, and the company’s product portfolio by marketing its products and services across select large and attractive addressable market applications and select geographic regions.
The company typically selects its target market applications based on use cases where the comparative user value proposition for PEM fuel cells powered by hydrogen are strongest – such as where operators value low emission vehicles that require high utilization, long driving range, heavy payload, fast refueling, and similar user experiences to legacy diesel vehicles – and where the barriers to entry for hydrogen refueling infrastructure are lowest – such as use cases where fuel cell vehicles typically return to a depot or hydrogen hub for centralized refueling and don’t require a distributed hydrogen refueling network. The company’s target markets include certain medium- and heavy-duty mobility applications for bus, truck, rail, and marine, along with certain off-road mobility and stationary power applications.
The company selects its target geographic markets based on a variety of factors, including addressable market sizes of the target market applications in the geographic markets, historic deployments and expected market adoption rates for hydrogen and fuel cells, supportive government policies, existing and potential partner, customer, and end user relationships, and competitive dynamics. The company’s target markets are the geographic regions of Europe, North America, and China.
The company’s strategy is built on four key themes:
Double down in the fuel cell stack & module: invest in leading PEM fuel cell technology and products to provide leading value to the company’s customers and end users on a total cost of ownership basis;
Accelerate market development: deepen and create new partnerships to accelerate hydrogen and fuel cell market adoption and grow volumes for product sales;
Win in key regions: prioritize investments in North America and Europe, and monitor China before materially deepening the company’s investment in China; and
Here for Life: deliver a compelling environmental, social and governance (‘ESG’) proposition for the company’s stakeholders.
Revenues from Market Segments
The company reports its results in the single operating segment of Fuel Cell Products and Services. The company’s Fuel Cell Products and Services segments consist of the sale and service of PEM fuel cell products and the delivery of Technology Solutions, including engineering services for the company’s target markets of bus, truck, rail, marine, stationary power, and emerging markets.
Markets, Products and Services
Product & Service Overview
Ballard’s product offering provides for a cost effective and flexible set of fuel cell power solutions. Ballard provides products in four distinct product classes and two separate categories of services:
MEAs: The company provides its proprietary MEAs to the Weichai-Ballard JV that use the MEAs to produce the company’s proprietary FCgen-LCS fuel cell stacks, respectively.
Fuel cell stacks: The company provides its proprietary FCgen and FCveloCity fuel cell stacks to OEM customers and system integrators that use the stacks to produce fuel cell systems for power solutions. As the fuel cell stack provider, the company is the power inside the system.
Fuel cell modules: The company designs and builds, including specifying and procuring balance of plant components, self-contained FCmove motive modules using the company’s fuel cell stacks that are plug-and-play into commercial vehicle powertrains. The company also design and build self-contained FCwave modules designed for marine applications and FCrail for rail applications. As a fuel cell module provider, the company make it easier for OEMs and system integrators to create fuel cell powertrains.
Fuel cell systems: The company also builds complete fuel cell systems, FCgen-H2PM and Cleargen products, for stationary power markets that are designed to solve certain power needs of the company’s customers, including back-up for critical infrastructure and MW distributed power generation.
Technology Solutions: The company offers engineering services to its customers for specialized integration of the company’s products or, specific to partnerships, custom fuel cell product development.
After Sales Services: The company offers its customers after sales services, including in and out of warranty support, service contracts, spare part management, fleet monitoring and training.
Fuel Cell Products and Services
The company’s primary business is the sale of Power Products, consisting of fuel cell modules and fuel cell stacks offered to customers in the company’s target market verticals of bus, truck, rail, marine, stationary power, and emerging markets. Fuel cell electric vehicles and power generation systems in these applications rely on centralized fueling depots that simplify the hydrogen infrastructure requirements and are typically government-subsidized, thus enabling the purchase of pre-commercial fleets.
In addition to the company’s fuel product, the company provides engineering services to customers in the company’s target markets under its Technology Solutions offering. The company’s engineering services help customers solve difficult technical and business challenges in the commercialization of their PEM fuel cell products or address new business opportunities and markets. The company offers customized, bundled technology solutions, including specialized PEM fuel cell engineering services, access to the company’s intellectual property portfolio and know-how, as well as specialized integration support for the company’s products in various applications across all of the company’s market verticals.
The company designs and manufactures fuel cell modules and stack products capable of delivering 50 kW to 200 kW of power. These modules and stacks can be combined to provide power output in excess of 1 MW for certain applications. The company supplies the fuel cell modules to a combination of vehicle OEMs and system integrators to deliver to end users. The demand for zero-emission vehicles is driven in many jurisdictions by the requirement to reduce greenhouse gases and other harmful emissions.
In 2019, the company launched its eighth-generation high-performance fuel cell module, the FCmove-HD. The FCmove family of products is designed to power medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles such as buses and trucks. The FCmove-HD 70kW version is being delivered to customers in China and Europe and has been integrated into vehicles. The FCmove-HD+ 100kW version was launched in 2021 and the company is starting delivery of the first modules to customers for integration into their new vehicle platforms in 2022. The company presented at the IAA Show in September 2022 the concept unit for FCmove-XD (120/240kW) product, which was developed for heavy duty trucks (>19t and class 6-8) and became commercially available in 2023.
In 2020, the company introduced the FCwave, a fuel cell module designed for certain marine applications. The FCwave fuel cell module is a 200 kW modular unit that can be scaled in series up to the multi-megawatt (MW) power level. The FCwave product provides primary propulsion power for marine vessels – such as passenger and car ferries, river push boats, and fishing boats – as well as stationary electrical power to support hotel and auxiliary loads on cruise ships and other vessels while docked at port (also known as ‘cold ironing’). In 2021, the company also started to sell FCwave products for stationary and rail applications. In 2022, the company’s FCwave fuel cell module was granted the industry-first Type Approval by DNV, one of the world’s leading marine classification and certification bodies.
The company’s Technology Solutions efforts support expanding the company’s key market verticals. In 2023, the company completed the development of the 200kW FCrail fuel cell engine to power Siemens’ Mireo light rail train pursuant to the Development Agreement entered into with Siemens in 2017. Related to the bus and truck verticals the company continued the execution of the Research and Development Agreement to develop and transfer technology to the Weichai-Ballard JV to enable manufacturing of Ballard’s FCgen-LCS fuel cell stack and FCgen-LCS-based power modules for bus, commercial truck and forklift applications with exclusive rights in China. The company also completed several large scale stationary installations in the 1-1.5 MW range for various customers and have several more planned for 2024.
Market Verticals
Bus
The company supplies Power Products and Technology Solutions to bus manufacturers primarily in Europe and North America. The bus market is the most mature of the company’s markets as measured by the length of time Ballard has been active in the market and by the number of products sold to customers in the market. Hydrogen fuel cell buses offer long range, the ability to complete demanding routes, and short refueling times for bus operators. Target applications for the company’s bus vertical include transit buses and intercity coach buses.
Truck
The company supplies Power Products and Technology Solutions to truck manufacturers and truck integrators in Europe and North America. The company’s Power Products and Technology Solutions revenues from Weichai-Ballard JV are also recorded in this vertical. The hydrogen fuel cell truck market is at a nascent phase typified by demonstration projects to prove the capabilities of the technology in the real world. For truck applications, hydrogen fuel cell power offers long range, high payloads, short refueling times, and high fuel efficiency. Target applications for the company’s truck vertical include heavy-duty long haul trucks, rubbish collection vehicles or garbage trucks, and medium-duty trucks or delivery vans.
Rail
The company supplies Power Products and Technology Solutions to train OEMs and railway operators in Europe and North America. The company’s technology offers a compelling value proposition to railway operators seeking to eliminate carbon emissions on railway lines that lack overhead catenary power infrastructure, as hydrogen fuel cells eliminate the need to build the overhead infrastructure by utilizing refueling depots that mirror current practice for diesel locomotives. Target applications for the company’s rail vertical include passenger rail and freight locomotive applications.
Marine
The company supplies Power Products and Technology Solutions to ship operators and shipyards in Europe and North America. Fuel cell power provides marine vessel operators with ships that have long range and short refueling times. Target applications in the company’s marine vertical include river transport, barges, short sea container ships, and ferries.
Stationary Power
The company supplies Power Products and Technology Solutions to OEMs and system integrators of power generation products. The company’s products allow users to generate zero emission power in remote locations that lack access to electrical grid infrastructure or generate back-up power for up to several days. Given the expected growth in electricity demand and the difficulties of expanding the electrical distribution network, the company sees an opportunity for fuel cell products to support demand for incremental power generation. Target applications include EV charging, TV and film production sites, grid balancing, and data centers.
Emerging Markets
The company’s Emerging Markets vertical encompasses two distinct markets: Materials Handling and Off-Highway. The company supplies Power Products and Technology Solutions to customers in both market verticals.
The material handling market includes industrial vehicles such as forklifts, automated guided vehicles and ground support equipment. The company’s initial focus is on battery-powered Class 1 counterbalance lift trucks, Class 2 reach trucks and Class 3 pallet forklifts. Ballard is supplying fuel cell stacks to a limited number of system integrators in North America and Europe.
The off-highway market includes industrial vehicles such as ultra-class mining haul trucks, excavators, construction equipment and farming equipment. Fuel cell products enable customers to operate their vehicles with high up-times, and are able to meet high power demands in heavy-duty applications.
Intellectual Property
As of March 8, 2024, Ballard owned or controlled 35 United States granted patents; 97 non-United States granted patents; 2 United States published patent applications; and 12 published non-United States patent applications. The company’s patents will expire between May 2024 and April 2043.
The company holds licence rights to additional intellectual property from a number of third parties. The company has a royalty-free license to approximately 870 issued patents and pending patent applications from AUDI for bus and non-automotive applications and a royalty-bearing license for all other applications. In addition, these licences include non-exclusive, royalty-free access to all of the intellectual property rights held by NuCellSys GmbH, a Daimler subsidiary, and to all of the intellectual property rights relating to fuel cells developed by Daimler, Ford and their subsidiaries (either directly or through AFCC), including any intellectual property rights developed by them to January 31, 2013. As of March 8, 2024, approximately 80 of the patents and patent applications that were included in these licenses, are granted or pending.
Cybersecurity
The company is certified under the ISO 27001:2013 standard (International Organization for Standardization) and Ballard also maintains robust cyber insurance coverage.
History
The company was founded in 1979. It was incorporated in 1989 under the Canada Business Corporations Act (Canada) under the name 7076991 Canada Inc. The company changed its name to Ballard Power Systems Inc. in 2008.