Ballard Power Systems

History

Year	Detail
1979	Ballard Research Inc. is founded by Geoffrey Ballard, Keith Prater and Paul Howard to conduct research and development of high-energy lithium batteries.
1983	Ballard began working on the development of PEM fuel cells which are part of investigating environmentally-clean energy systems with commercial potential.
1986	Development of the first Ballard fuel cell stack operating on pressurized air.
1989	Ballard Power Systems Inc. is incorporated in British Columbia, Canada.
1990	Development of a 5 kW fuel cell stack.
1991	Commencement of a joint program between Ballard, General Motors, and the US Department of Energy for the development of a fuel cell-powered passenger vehicle.
1993	The first fuel cell bus was presented by Ballard in Vancouver, Canada. Collaboration agreement between Ballard and Daimler-Benz for the joint development of a compact, high-power density fuel cell stack.
1995	Ballard fuel cell stack achieved a power density of 700 watts per kilogram.
2003	30 fuel cell buses will be deployed in revenue service operations in ten European cities. In addition, three fuel cell buses are deployed in Perth, Australia, and three in Beijing, China.
2008	Ballard divests its automotive development division to partners Daimler AG & Ford Motor Company.
2010	Acquisition of Dantherm Power (DK), which became Ballard Power Systems Europe.
2013	Ballard signs a long-term engineering services contract to advance Volkswagen AG fuel cell automotive research program.
2014	Acquisition of fuel cell IP portfolio from United Technologies Corporation.
2015	Acquired Protonex Technology Corporation (US) and launched Ballard's 7th generation FCveloCity-HD module for motive applications.
2016	A strategic partnership was formed with Zhongshan Broad-Ocean Motor Co., Ltd. of China. Formed a joint venture with Guangdong Nation-Synergy Hydrogen Power Technology Co. Ltd to produce fuel cell stacks in China.
2017	Ballard and Siemens sign $9M multi-year development agreement for fuel cell engine to power Mireo commuter train and Shanghai Edrive, division of Broad-Ocean, commissions the first facility for Chinese-produced Ballard fuel cell modules.
2018	Ballard launches next-generation high performance liquid-cooled fuel cell stack, the FCgen®-LCS, for heavy-duty motive market and signs historic strategic collaboration with Weichai Power to advance the company's China strategy.
2019	Ballard launches 8th generation high performance fuel cell module, the FCmove™, for heavy-duty motive applications and Ballard to establishes fuel cell Center of Excellence in Europe to serve marine market with zero-emission solutions.
2020	Ballard launches high-performance fuel cell module, the FCwave, for marine applications.