Ballard receives follow-on order from CPKC Rail for additional fuel cell engines

Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) rail has awarded Ballard an additional order of 12 fuel cell engines, delivered in 2024. The 200kW FCwave™ engines will support the expansion of CPKC’s new fleet of hydrogen-powered locomotives planned for regular switching and local freight service applications in Alberta, Canada.

To date, Ballard has supplied CPKC with 50 fuel cell engines for use in its hydrogen locomotives, with combined fuel cell power of 10MW. The additional locomotives are expected to enter service by the end of this year.

Dr. Kyle Mulligan, CPKC AVP Operations Technology, added: “Our hydrogen locomotive program demonstrates our commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and we are pleased to continue to work with the team at Ballard to implement effective alternative fuel solutions.” 

Since 2021, Ballard has supplied CPKC with fuel cell engines for use in three different types of locomotives, which have undergone subsequent and successful field testing, proving the capabilities of Ballard’s hydrogen fuel cell technology in locomotive applications.

Further development on range across temperature variations, heavy hauling, fine tuning auxiliary load to avoid waste, and increased number of hours on current and additional units will support continued technological evolution. The success of these trials, combined with the need to achieve CPKC’s emissions goals, has resulted in the significant expansion of the original hydrogen locomotive program.

The locomotives will be partially funded through the Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) program, which helps the province deliver on its environmental and economic goals. This in turn supports the decarbonization of rail transport by funding hydrogen production and refueling infrastructure along with hydrogen-powered locomotives.