CANADA: Canadian Pacific Kansas City has ordered a further 12 hydrogen fuel cell power packs from Ballard for delivery during 2024.
The 200 kW FCwave fuel cells are intended to power a batch of locomotives to undertake shunting and local freight services in Alberta; they are expected to enter service by the end of this year. The locos are being partially funded from the province’s Emissions Reduction Alberta programme, which is also supporting hydrogen production and the provision of refuelling infrastructure.
Ballard has previously supplied CPKC with 50 fuel cell powerpacks with a combined rating of 10 MW. These have been fitted to three different types of locomotive for field testing in a variety of applications. Work is continuing to refine the technology, focused on temperature variations and heavy haul applications, as well as fine tuning the auxiliary load to avoid waste and increase hours of operation.
‘Our hydrogen locomotive program demonstrates our commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions’, said CPKC Assistant Vice President, Operations Technology, Dr Kyle Mulligan. ‘We are pleased to continue working with the team at Ballard to implement effective alternative fuel solutions.’
‘We are excited by CPKC’s vision and action plan to demonstrate and validate the use of hydrogen-powered locomotives to decarbonise their locomotive fleet’, added Seungsoo Jung, Ballard’s Vice President, Stack Programs & PMO. ‘This latest order demonstrates CPKC’s continued progress against this vision and plan, while also serving as another proof point for the enabling role of Ballard’s fuel cell engines in the electrification of locomotive rail applications in North America.’
