Corporate Direction

Business Focus

Ballard Power Systems provides clean energy fuel cell products, enabling optimized power systems for a range of applications. We are recognized as the world leader in design, development and manufacture of zero-emission proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells and are focused on accelerating commercial adoption.

Ballard is focused on the following stationary power market segments – 

Backup Power - Fuel cells provide a highly reliable power source for emergency needs in telecom networks throughout various parts of the world.

Supplemental Power - Fuel cells operating from reformed fuels – such as natural gas – offer a flexible solution for power in regions where the electrical grid is unreliable, which is the case in many developing nations. 

Distributed Generation – The ability to generate power in distributed sites is an important market opportunity for fuel cell technology. For example, fuel cells can take advantage of by-product hydrogen streams at chemical plants, producing power for use locally or resale back to the grid. And, fuel cells can provide energy storage in conjunction with other renewable technologies, such as wind and solar facilities.

Ballard is also focused on the following motive power market segments -

Transit Buses - Fuel cell buses are zero emission vehicles, with no green house gases, particulates or harmful emissions released during operation.

Material Handling - With constant power output and fast refuelling, fuel cell-powered forklift trucks increase productivity of lift trucks – compared to incumbent battery technology – operating in high-throughput warehouses and distribution centers.

Ballard also has supporting business segments, including material products and contract manufacturing.

Employees and management at Ballard are mobilized around a single mission … to accelerate fuel cell product adoption. With our proven technology, comprehensive range of fuel cell products and services, unsurpassed field experience and teams of highly-skilled people we believe we have what it takes to create smarter solutions for a clean energy future.

Ballard’s Core Business Activities

Hydrogen fuel cell stack R&D and manufacturing
Ballard offers unbeatable application-specific fuel cell product quality and performance, built on R&D best-practices. Our technology leadership has resulted in access to over 2,000 patents and licenses. Ballard’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities are the industry standard, allowing statistical repeatability of 94% of our manufacturing processes. Our fuel cell manufacturing facility, a 10,220-square-metre plant in Burnaby, B.C. which opened in 2000, is the world's first volume manufacturing facility for hydrogen fuel cells, and provides an additional competitive advantage for Ballard in bringing our fuel cell products to market.

Extensive in-house testing capabilities
Ballard maintains a fuel cell test facility that is unsurpassed anywhere in the world. The facility provides our product development and research teams an integrated method for evaluation of our product functionality, durability, reliability, safety and robustness. Utilizing well-engineered methods, effective and accurate execution techniques and technology that reduces waste, our test stands ensure the highest quality and reliability of Ballard products.

Applications engineering support to systems integrators & OEMs
Ballard’s dedicated applications engineering team develops collaborative technical relationships with our customers, to support their integration and implementation activities. This ensures our customers’ success in delivering effective end-user solutions.

Contract Technical Services
Daimler AG, Ford Motor Company and Ballard are shareholders in AFCC Automotive Fuel Cell Cooperation Corp. (AFCC), a private company focused on the development of hydrogen fuel cells for automotive applications. Ballard offers AFCC key testing, engineering, manufacturing and administrative services.

Ballard’s relationship with AFCC (and our minority ownership position in AFCC) provides important benefits, which are discussed more fully in the strategic partnership section of our website.

Customer support
Ballard’s dedicated internal teams have deep market understanding and can provide tools to support fuel cell product introduction to end-users. In addition, Ballard’s extensive participation in demonstration programs around the globe has allowed us to develop a customer support team second to none, earning us recognition as the most trusted fuel cell stack supplier in the industry.