Hydrogenics to develop hybrid fuel cell bus

Hydrogenics Corp., a designer and manufacturer of fuel cell technology, has been contracted by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) to integrate its power module technology into a next-generation fuel-cell powered transit bus. NRCan will contribute $1.9 million towards the project, which is scheduled for completion in March 2005. A major difference between this bus project and earlier projects is Hydrogenics' proprietary vehicle-to-grid technology. This technology enables a vehicles power supply to provide off-board power and power to the electrical grid, while the vehicle is sitting idle. Another feature of this 40-foot transit bus will be the use of ultracapacitors for peaking demands and regenerative braking. Hydrogenics' module design will incorporate a distributed array of discrete power modules, resulting in higher reliability and maintainability for both grid and road power. Hydrogen will be stored in high-pressure storage tanks.