Ballard Power Systems has been approved for two grants totalling USD40 million from the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office.

The grants, under the Clean Hydrogen Electrolysis, Manufacturing, and Recycling Program, will support Ballard’s construction and build-out of an integrated fuel cell production facility in Rockwall, Texas.

Ballard plans for the new facility, dubbed Ballard Rockwall Giga 1, to be located within the Rockwall Technology Park in Rockwall, Texas. In Phase I, Ballard plans to invest approximately USD160 million from 2024 through to the end of 2027 to build and commission a new manufacturing facility with annual production capacity of 8 million membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs), 8 million bipolar plates, 20,000 fuel cell stacks and up to 20,000 fuel cell engines per year.

Future phases are expected to further increase production scaling and capacity expansion with much lower capital requirements.

The facility represents the next stage of Ballard’s ‘local for local’ and advanced manufacturing strategy. Ballard expects to make a final investment decision on this facility later in 2024, pending completion of customary conditions, including necessary approvals, negotiation of final awards with the DOE, and definitive agreements.

“With an increasingly constructive policy environment and growing customer interest, it is critical to invest in this innovative manufacturing line,” says Lee Sweetland, Ballard’s chief transformation officer. “We have been working hard to develop next-generation, automated production processes for MEAs, bipolar plates and stack assembly that will position Ballard to meet expected future market demand, while significantly driving down the cost of our market-leading fuel cell engines.”