Ballard, Caterpillar, Microsoft to develop hydrogen power system

VANCOUVER—B.C.-based Ballard Power Systems has announced the launch of a three-year project with two American partners to demonstrate a power system incorporating large-format hydrogen fuel cells to produce backup power for data centres.

Ballard is working with Caterpillar Inc. and Microsoft on the project, which will be hosted at a Microsoft data centre in Quincy, Wash., stated a Nov. 22 release. The project is being partially funded by the U.S. Department of Energy under the H2@Scale initiative and backed by the National Renewable Energy Lab.

Caterpillar will contribute expertise in advanced power technologies, controls and system integration, working with Microsoft experts in data centre design and Ballard fuel cell design specialists.

Ballard will provide a 1.5-megawatt ClearGen-II hydrogen fuel cell power generator.

“We are excited to be collaborating with a complementary team of global industry leaders on this important demonstration project,” said Randy MacEwen, Ballard’s president and CEO, in a statement. “The results of this project will provide key insights into the capability of fuel cell systems to scale and serve multi-megawatt data centres.

“The project will also explore the scalability of fuel cell systems powered by low carbon-intensity hydrogen from cost and performance perspectives. Ballard’s industry-leading PEM technology is well suited for customers undergoing energy transition and requiring high power backup applications.”