FuelCellsWorks

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) extended the deadline of the Requirements for Fuel Storage Subsystems for Early Market Fuel Cell Applications Request for Information (RFI) to January 15, 2010.

On October 30, 2009, DOE issued the RFI to seek input from prospective fuel cell system users, fuel cell component and system suppliers, and other stakeholders on performance and cost requirements for fuel storage subsystems for near-term, early market fuel cell applications (e.g., for mobile applications such as forklifts, stationary back-up power, and portable power).

This RFI is intended to be “fuel neutral” with a focus on defining the fuel storage needs and requirements for early market fuel cell applications to facilitate successful market transformation in a competitive environment. This information will be used by DOE in a preliminary assessment and ultimate determination of the storage system performance requirements.

To respond to this RFI, read the Request for Information (PDF 133 KB), respond to the four questions/issues on page four, and send an e-mail to StorageTargets2009@ee.doe.gov with the responses attached using Microsoft Word (.doc) format by January 15, 2010.

Awards Support Ohio’s Growing Fuel Cell Industry Leadership

Columbus – Governor Ted Strickland, Eric Fingerhut, Chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents and Chair of the Ohio Third Frontier Commission, and Lisa Patt-McDaniel, Director of the Ohio Department of Development and commission member, today recommended $6.38 million in funding through the Ohio Third Frontier Fuel Cell Program.

“Ohio Third Frontier is building a dynamic fuel cell network capable of meeting the demands of the new energy economy,” Strickland said. “Ohio’s leadership position in the fuel cell sector is because of strong collaboration with our industry partners and a commitment to creating jobs and companies that help strengthen Ohio’s position as a global energy leader.”

The Ohio Third Frontier Fuel Cell Program supports research and development that addresses the technical and cost barriers to fuel cell components and systems commercialization in Ohio. The awards are contingent upon State Controlling Board approval.

“These partnerships in the emerging fuel cell industry add to the Ohio Third Frontier’s proven track record of catalyzing research into innovation, and innovation into jobs,” said Chancellor Eric D. Fingerhut. “The alignment of higher education with Ohio’s businesses will give companies an edge in the global marketplace.”

The Ohio Third Frontier Fuel Cell Program accelerates the development and growth of the fuel cell industry in Ohio by direct financial support to organizations seeking to: investigate near-term specific commercial objectives with respect to products, processes, or services; commercialize new products, commercialize manufacturing processes or technologies, or adapt or modify existing components or systems that can reduce the cost of fuel cell systems or address technical and commercialization barriers; or demonstrate market readiness.

“Through our targeted investments, Ohio is creating a vibrant fuel cell industry from end-users to integrators, and material suppliers to component suppliers,” said Patt-McDaniel. “Ohio Third Frontier assists in developing the leading-edge research, development, and testing facilities that support the growth of Ohio’s robust fuel cell network.”

Fiscal Year 2010 Ohio Third Frontier Fuel Cell Program Awards:

Energy Technologies, Inc., located in the City of Mansfield (Richland County), in collaboration with Energy Conversion Devices, was awarded $1 million for its Testing Metal Hydride Fuel Cells project. The objective of this project is to develop and verify testing process and verification tools necessary to demonstrate the manufacturing repeatability of metal hydride fuel cell systems and their key subcomponents.

Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems (US) Inc., located in the City of North Canton (Stark County), in collaboration with Case Western Reserve University, was awarded $999,770 for its Reliability of Fuel Cells for Megawatt Scale SOFC Power Systems project. This project will determine the long-term reliability of the Rolls-Royce solid oxide fuel cell. A method to predict performance will be developed so that qualification of the solid oxide fuel cell can be accelerated, and thereby reduce the time for entry into commercial stationary power markets.

NexTech Materials, Ltd., located in Lewis Center (Delaware County), in collaboration with The Ohio State University and Hocking Technical College, was awarded $1.49 million for its Improving Manufacturing Readiness of NexTech’s Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Stack Technology project. In this project, a key piece of fuel cell manufacturing equipment will be installed at Hocking College’s Energy Institute providing a facility at Hocking College that will support NexTech and other Ohio companies in a range of energy generation and storage applications. NexTech will also design and manufacture mechanically robust and efficient stacks for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells. The program is predicted to attract follow-on investment of over $50 million, and to create 156 high-paying jobs by 2016.

Wellman Products Group, a Division of Hawk Corporation, located in the City of Solon (Cuyahoga County), in collaboration with UTC Power, a division of United Technologies Corporation, was awarded $893,252 for its Phosphoric Fuel Cell Stack Cost Reduction project. The goal of this project is to lower the material costs of the integrated separator plates (ISPs) that will be incorporated into UTC Power’s new PureCell® 400 System, power plants by employing lower cost raw materials and processing methods.

Lockheed Martin MS2 Integrated Defense Technologies, located in the City of Akron (Summit County), in collaboration with Technology Management, Inc., was awarded $1 million for its Military Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Ruggedization project. This project will accelerate time to market for solid oxide fuel cell based generator sets (gensets) and auxiliary power units (APUs) to the U.S. Department of Defense, which is an early adopter with a pressing need for the basic value proposition.. This will result in jobs at Lockheed Martin in Akron, as well as at Technology Management, Inc. and other partners in the Ohio fuel cell supply chain within the next five years.

UltraCell Corporation, located in the City of Vandalia (Montgomery County), in collaboration with the University of Dayton Research Institute and Mound Technical Solutions, was awarded $1 million for its Transitioning the UltraCell XX55® 55-Watt Fuel Cell from Beta Design to Commercial Product Through Manufacturing project. This project will focus on implementing efforts to transition manufacturing of the XX55® from UltraCell’s research and development facility in California to its manufacturing plant in Ohio.

BOTHELL, Wash., — Neah Power Systems, Inc., (OTCBB:NPWZ – News), www.neahpower.com, the Company developing fuel cell-based renewable energy, announced that its patented, porous, silicon-based anaerobic fuel cell reached 1500 hours of constant operation on November 15th, 2009. The test, part of a series of ongoing technology demonstrations, further demonstrates that the company’s fuel cell is a reliable alternative to existing power solutions, including traditional batteries.

Neah Power has maintained a consistent schedule of improvements in their direct methanol fuel cell technology, including this recent demonstration, which required improvements to the fuel cell over previous prototypes. “On October 27th, after 1163 hours of continuous run time, we examined the cell to determine the source of decay, discovering that the fuel stream had not been filtered,” says Dr. Tsali Cross, VP of Engineering at Neah Power. “We cleaned the cell and restarted it, this time with a fuel filter in-line. After 1500 hours, the cell is now putting out as much power as the day we started.”.

Neah’s direct methanol fuel cell has far exceeded the design team’s expectations and will continue to lead the field of alternative power solutions as it maintains long lasting, successful power generation.

“We continue to be amazed, but not surprised, by the progress and success of our design and the fuel cell’s performance,” says Dr. Chris D’Couto, CEO of Neah Power. “We are confident that our fuel cell technology will continue to improve in terms of operational quality and run time towards the goal of commercialization in myriad consumer, military and industrial applications. This milestone for our technology is significant as fuel cells continue to gain ground as the future of power solutions.”

About NEAH Power

NEAH Power Systems, Inc. (NPWZ) is developing long-lasting, efficient and safe power solutions for the military and for portable electronic devices. NEAH uses a unique, patented, silicon-based design for its micro fuel cells that enable higher power densities, lower cost and compact form-factors. The company’s micro fuel cell system can run in aerobic and anaerobic modes.

Further company information can be found at www.neahpower.com.

Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited [AIM/ASX: CFU], a leading developer of high efficiency and low emission
electricity generation units for homes and other buildings, has successfully obtained financing for
part of the costs of its volume manufacturing plant. The plant is located in the Industriepark
Oberbruch, 40 minutes’ drive from Dusseldorf in the North Rhine-Westphalia region of Germany,
and was officially opened in October 2009.

Ceramic Fuel Cells has received a regional development grant of €1,386,000 from the Government
of North Rhine Westphalia. The funding, which has been received by Ceramic Fuel Cells, requires
the Company to meet certain requirements as to expenditure on construction of the plant and the
creation of jobs. The company has already met the requirement regarding the expenditure on the
plant and expects to employ more people at the plant to meet increasing demand.

Ceramic Fuel Cells has also entered a financing lease with German banking group Commerzbank
over some of the equipment at the Heinsberg plant. Under this arrangement Ceramic Fuel Cells has
received net funding of €1,528,849.

The total net funds to be received by Ceramic Fuel Cells under both arrangements is €2,914,849.
The volume manufacturiung plant has a design capacity of 10,000 fuel cell stacks per year, using
state of the art automated manufacturing equipment. All pieces of equipment have been
commissioned on-site and are operational.

Speaking at the official plant opening on 2 October 2009, Dr Jens Baganz, State Secretary for the
Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, said: "Fuel cells
with high efficiency are a key technology of the future with significant economic potential. In
Oberbruch it is now possible that a future industry can be developed. Given the global challenges of
climate change, there are very promising market opportunities for fuel cell technology."

VANCOUVER– Ballard Power Systems (TSX: BLD; NASDAQ: BLDP) announced that it has closed an agreement effective today with a financial institution to monetize its rights under the Share Purchase Agreement with Ford Motor Company (Ford) relating to Ballard’s 19.9% equity interest in Automotive Fuel Cell Cooperation Corp. (AFCC). Ballard will receive total gross proceeds of approximately $44.5 million: a $37 million payment today and a further contingent payment of $7.5 million due upon maturation of the Share Purchase Agreement on or before January 31, 2013. Ballard’s receipt of the contingent payment is subject to the financial institution’s rights in the transaction remaining unsubordinated.

Bruce Cousins, Ballard’s Chief Financial Officer said, “Given the recent improvement in public debt market conditions and Ford’s credit rating, we believe that this is the appropriate time to monetize this non-core investment”.

John Sheridan, Ballard’s President & CEO said, “The cash proceeds from this transaction bolster Ballard’s strong balance sheet and strengthen our positioning to execute our clean energy growth priorities in backup power, supplemental power, distributed generation and motive power applications”.

Ballard expects to book a gain associated with this transaction of approximately $34 million in its fourth quarter results. This transaction does not affect Ballard’s business relationships with AFCC, Daimler, Ford, and their affiliates. Ballard will continue to supply technical services and fuel cell components and modules.

Background

As part of the monetization agreement, Ballard has pledged its shares in AFCC and assigned its right to “put” or sell those shares to Ford for $65 million plus interest after January 31, 2013. The value of the monetization of the agreement with a financial institution was determined based on a number of variables, including Ford’s cost of borrowing, expected future London Interbank Offered Rates (LIBOR), time remaining to the Share Purchase Agreement’s maturity date and general market and other conditions. All required approvals from Daimler AG, Ford and AFCC were received prior to the closing of this transaction. Ballard’s intellectual property rights are unaffected by this transaction.

Lazard Freres & Co. LLC acted as a financial advisor to Ballard for the transaction.

About Ballard Power Systems

Ballard Power Systems (TSX: BLD; NASDAQ: BLDP) is a clean energy growth company with product leadership in fuel cell power solutions, initially on the material handling and stationary power markets. To learn more about Ballard, please visit www.ballard.com