B.C.’s leading fuel-cell company is tapping a new leader.
Ballard Power Systems Inc. (TSX:BLDP) announced Monday it’s appointing Marty Neese as its next president and CEO.
Neese succeeds Randy MacEwen, who will step down after 11 years at the helm, effective July 7.
The Burnaby-based cleantech firm develops and manufactures hydrogen fuel cells for transportation and stationary power.
Amid changing industry trends and a focus on product cost reduction, MacEwen said in a statement that this is the right time for a new leader to guide Ballard into the future.
Neese served on Ballard’s board of directors the last 10 years and was CEO of Verdagy Inc., a manufacturer of electrolysis systems for hydrogen, over the last four years.
Ballard announced last year it was rethinking plans for a new $130-million manufacturing facility in China.
Instead, the company proposed a $220-million manufacturing plant in Texas, for which it is eligible for $94 million in government funding.
However, plans for the Texas facility are now on hold, following “slowing hydrogen and fuel cell policy implementation and market adoption,” Ballard said in a third-quarter 2024 management analysis.
"Ballard is still assessing the commercial viability of the Texas plant," said the company in an email, reiterating it is pausing its investment in China.
—With files from Nelson Bennett
