Fuel cell company Ballard Power Systems has announced it will establish a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) manufacturing facility and R&D centre in the Jiading district of Shanghai.

Ballard plans to invest $130mn in the facility over the next three years, with operations due to begin in 2025. It is targeting an MEA production capacity of 13mn/yr to supply c.20,000 fuel-cell engines. The facility will also assemble 600 engines per year to supply rail, marine, off-road and stationary markets in China, as well as certain export markets.

MEAs are a core technology for the production of fuel-cell engines and have been a limiting factor for Ballard’s production capabilities. The company completed an output capacity expansion, to 6mn/yr, at its Vancouver MEA facility in Canada last year.

Chinese diesel-engine manufacturer Weichai has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to make an equity investment of 2pc in Ballard’s new MEA facility.

Ballard previously set up a joint venture with Weichai in 2018 to establish a manufacturing facility in Shandong with an annual production capacity of 40,000 stacks and 20,000 engines. In the same deal, Weichai invested $163mn into Ballard, representing a 19.9pc interest in the company.

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Author: Polly Martin