"We are on the side of Ontarians who want a strong economy and a clean environment," said Premier McGuinty. "These projects will help keep Ontario on the cutting-edge of the green revolution."

"These projects will help key industries in Ontario - the auto, energy and telecom sectors - reduce their reliance on fossil fuels and petrochemicals," said Takhar. "They will also help develop a strong, competitive green sector in this province, an emerging market with global potential."

The Ontario Fuel Cell Innovation Program will provide $1.63 million to four fuel cell projects. Fuel cells are battery-like devices that combine oxygen and hydrogen to generate electricity. Giving off only water and heat, fuel cell technology is the next generation of clean energy.

ONTARIO FUEL CELL INNOVATION PROGRAM
    
The government created the Ontario Fuel Cell Innovation Program (OFCIP) to build on the province's strength of developing cutting-edge alternative energy technologies. The goal of the program is to move Ontario's best scientific and technological ideas and discoveries from the lab to the marketplace by turning them into products and services that can be sold to the world.

Fuelled by hydrogen and oxygen, fuel cells can produce electricity with water as the only emission. They are a vital technology in realizing the promise of a growing, environmentally sustainable Ontario economy.

The government has invested $2.26 million in the development and commercialization of six fuel cell technology projects this year.

The Projects

• Hydrogenics Corporation, a Mississauga-based company that is commercializing hydrogen and fuel cell products, leads three of the newly announced projects:

• Hydrogenics will coordinate with NACCO Materials Handling Group, one of the world's largest lift truck manufacturers, for the development and building of fuel cell power packs that are compatible with class 2 lift trucks, commonly used in warehouses.

• 3-Hydrogenics will design and build four eight-kilowatt fuel cell backup power solutions to be deployed at the sites of four leading telecommunications providers, demonstrating the commercial viability of this application.

• Hydrogenics will also contract with a third party to advance the development of international codes and standards in the field of hydrogen refuellers and component parts. This will help facilitate the commercialization of fuel cells, hydrogen and related technologies on a global basis, helping companies like Hydrogenics to sell their products around the world.

The fourth new project is led by Enbridge Gas Distribution. This project will result in a double win for the environment: using fuel cell technology to generate 1.2 megawatts of clean energy - enough to power up to 900 homes - and using by-product heat to reduce natural gas consumption at the facility.

Enbridge will coordinate the integration of a large stationary fuel cell with its natural gas high-pressure pipeline energy recovery system. The company expects that this project will assist in establishing a sales demand for its waste energy recovery technology throughout North America, a market estimated at between 500 to 600 megawatts.

Previously Announced Fuel Cell Innovation Projects

Sarnia-Lambton Economic Partnership

Sarnia-Lambton Economic Partnership, the local economic development agency, in partnership with Lambton College and with the involvement of various local end users, will deploy a number of Ontario-based hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in the community. These applications will include fuel
cell golf carts and utility vehicles, as well as portable and stationary backup power systems. Hydrogen will be produced from a solar electrolyser developed by Electric Hydrogen of Burlington. Ontario will contribute $500,000 to this project.

The Hydrogen Village

The Hydrogen Village is a market development program comprised of a public/private partnership of 35 companies and organizations with the goal of creating commercially sustainable markets for hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. Over the last three years Ontario has contributed $130,000 to this project.