USA / Canada – Ballard Power Systems Inc, a manufacturer of fuel cell systems based in Burnaby, British Columbia, has announced plans for a USD 200 million twenty-two acre fuel cell production Gigafactory (“Ballard Rockwall Giga 1”) in Rockwall, Texas. Ballard has confirmed that USD 40 million in subsidies/grants is expected from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office, through the Clean Hydrogen Electrolysis, Manufacturing, and Recycling Program. Ballard has also received support, mainly through fee and permit incentives, from the Rockwall Economic Development Corporation (REDC), which owns and manages the Rockwall Technology Park where the facility will be built.

The project is split into multiple phases, with construction beginning in Q4 2024. Phase 1 (2024 – 2027) will see the actual facility built, with an initial capacity of “8 million membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs), 8 million bipolar plates, 20,000 fuel cell stacks, and up to 20,000 fuel cell engines per year, or the equivalent of 3 gigawatts of fuel cells.” USD 200 million is earmarked for this development phase. Phase 2, which is yet to be operationalised, will increase production capacity by scaling the facility if market demand facilitates.