News

Protonex & Ultracell Partner To Develop & Market New Portable Power Solutions

July 28, 2009 by Jeff Shepard

Protonex Technology Corp. announced that it has partnered with UltraCell Corp. to cooperate in the development, marketing, demonstration, commercialization, and sale of advanced fuel cell power solutions and fuels for the U.S. Military.

Under the terms of the agreement, the companies plan to focus on three distinct types of cooperative efforts: 1) collaboration on existing military hardware, 2) development of a common fuel, and 3) joint sales and marketing efforts. On the hardware side, the companies will integrate and test power solutions using UltraCell’s XX25 and XX55 fuel cell power sources with Protonex’ Soldier Power Manager (SPM) and Battlefield Power Manager (BPM) products. Both companies will further develop and promote a new portable power plug-and-play standard for the U.S. Military.

On the fuel side, Protonex and UltraCell share a common methanol/water fuel mixture in their portable power systems as both systems are based on Reformed Methanol Fuel Cell (RMFC) technology. A joint goal for both companies, and one of significant value to military customers, will be to achieve a truly universal fuel for both Protonex and UltraCell portable power systems through common specifications, packaging/interconnections, extensive testing, and supplier qualification.

Finally, both companies intend to support each other in joint marketing and sales for these specific power solutions. UltraCell’s fuel cell products currently provide power below the 100W range while Protonex’ series of products output between 100 to 1,000W of power, making UltraCell’s XX25 and XX55W products fully complementary with Protonex’ M250-CX fuel cell system operating at 250W and above. Protonex’ SPM and BPM series of power managers are compatible with a wide range of fuel cells and military hardware above and below 100W. These Protonex power management products dramatically reduce a soldier’s logistics burden by minimizing the number and type of batteries and other power sources a soldier must carry. Both Protonex and UltraCell offer advanced power solutions that are designed to meet the stringent, rugged power needs of demanding military and commercial applications.

"We are very pleased to be partnering with UltraCell to combine our robust power solutions and to accelerate our sales and marketing efforts," stated Greg Cipriano, Vice President, Military Development & Marketing for Protonex. "We expect that our combined complementary product platforms to result in portable power solutions that offer significantly enhanced capabilities for our military customers. The U.S. Military has been searching for a universal portable power solution and fuel for a long time, and we now have the combined team and work effort that can deliver on that vision."