Burnaby's Ballard Power Systems (TSX:BLD) has passed a product acceptance milestone and will ship 310 hydrogen fuel cell units to India's ACME Tele Power Ltd.
The units will be used to provide backup power for Acme's wireless telecommunications network equipment and provide up to two megawatts of backup power.
Part of the contract with Acme announced in October includes an order of 10,000 units of a new natural gas fuel cell being developed. Ballard is developing a low-cost fuel-cell product, the FCgen-1300, which can use other fuels like natural gas. They could overcome hydrogen supply issues for fuel cells, particularly in remote areas in India. The new cells will also take advantage of the Indian government's subsidies for natural gas and the country's growing natural gas distribution network.
Ballard is working with Oregon-based IdaTech LLC to develop the units. Ballard plans to begin shipping the FCgen-1300 in 2009's last quarter.
Backup power for wireless cellphone towers is a necessity in India, which has an unstable electrical grid that's prone to daily power outages.
Ballard's share price range during the past week: between $1.84 and $2.15; 52-week high: $5; 52-week low: $1.10.