New premier Christy Clark joined German luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz downtown Thursday to announce plans for a new fuel cell production facility in Burnaby.
The $50 million plant will develop and build fuel cell stacks to power electric vehicles.
The decision to locate the plant in the Lower Mainland relates to the Automotive Fuel Cell Cooperation (AFCC), a joint venture formed in 2008 between Daimler, Ford (NYSE:F) and Ballard Power Systems (TSX:BLD).
The AFCC developed the fuel stack that is now used in the Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-Cell and the Citaro FuelCell Hybrid city bus.
“We are delighted to take on the responsibility of producing the fuel cell stacks in addition to our overall Canadian wholesale and retail sales, parts and service operations,” said Marcus Breitschwerdt, president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Canada.
“Our colleagues at the AFCC have pioneered the development of fuel cell stacks in Canada, and we are now extremely proud to be involved in the next very important chapter in production of fuel cell stacks.”
Mercedes-Benz said construction on the new facility would begin immediately, with completion expected early next year.
On Friday, Ballard announced that it would sub-lease 21,000 square feet of surplus fuel cell manufacturing space to Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler AG.
The Burnaby-based fuel cell maker said the sub-lease would take effect August 1 and allow Daimler to use the space to manufacture fuel cells for its vehicles.
The deal will save Ballard approximately $1 million per year in real estate and related overhead costs.