Ballard Power Systems Inc. (Vancouver, Canada) announced the receipt of an order from Gillig Corp. (Hayward, CA) for delivery of three heavy-duty Ballard® fuel cell engines and support services. The 205kW fuel cell engines will be integrated into transit buses for delivery in 2004 to the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA, San Jose, CA).
The fuel cell buses will operate for a two-year period in revenue service under real-world conditions, in response to the California Air Resources Board’s (Sacramento, CA) zero-emission transit bus requirements. VTA will evaluate fuel cell technology for the public transit industry, including maintenance, operating performance and costs; fueling safety; employee training; and public education and awareness. This is a joint demonstration program with VTA, the San Mateo Transportation District, the California Fuel Cell Partnership (West Sacramento, CA) and the California Air Resources Board.
"With this order we now have 11 different transit agencies around the world committed to demonstrating Ballard’s most advanced heavy-duty fuel cell engine technology in the next several years," said Ballard Chairman and CEO Firoz Rasul. "California has shown great leadership in the development of fuel cell technology and we are delighted that VTA has chosen buses powered by Ballard fuel cell engines."
