Hydrogenics to Develop Fuel Cells for High Speed Marine Vessel

Hydrogenics (NASDAQ:HYGS;TSX:HYG) announced on Monday (June 25) that it will be providing fuel cells to Golden Gate Zero Emission Marine (GGZEM) for the building of the first high-speed hydrogen-powered fuel cell marine vessel in the US.

The 360 kW Hydrogenics fuel cell powered vessel is designed by Incat Crowther and will be built by Bay Ship and Yacht in San Francisco Bay and will be powered in combination with lithium-ion battery packs.

The announcement by the Ontario- based company follows one by California Air Resources Board (CARB) where it awarded a US$3 million grant to GGZEM to build a zero emission vessel. The total cost of the project is US$5.5 million while the grant money is being funded by California Climate Investments.   

Daryl Wilson, president of Hydrogenics, said that the vessel is a demonstration of the company’s presence in the space.

“We continue to support the maritime industry with first-of-their-kind propulsion power and fueling solutions, incorporating our world-leading advanced hydrogen applications,” Wilson said in the release.

The vessel, called Water-Go-Round, is expected to launch in mid-2019 and is the first commercial fuel cell ferry in the world. GGZEM expects the project to be a benchmark of the commercial and regulatory community at large.

“ [Hydrogenics] fuel cells have a proven track record and incorporate numerous innovative features that result in high efficiency,” Joseph W. Pratt, CEO of GGZEM said the announcement.

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District will be administering the project while Sandia National Laboratories assessing the performance data of the vessel. Once launched, the 70 ft Water-Go-Around will be under three month study period with CARB using the real world data to verify the suitability of the technology for marine use.

Following the announcement, Hydrogenics closed the trading session at US$7.25 on NASDAQ and was up 0.6 percent over the one day trading period. TipRanks has a analyst target price of $10. The stock has a sell rating on TradingView with 15 verticals against, nine neutral and two in favour.

On TSX, the stock traded at CS$9.70 at its most recent close on Friday. The stock has a sell rating on TradingView with 16 verticals against, eight in neutral and two in favour.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Bala Yogesh, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.