Is hydrogen fuel cell energy storage a good investment? Photo: Plug Power stock was not as affected as others by the bankruptcy of fuel-cell technology company ClearEdge Power.
The demise of ClearEdge Power last month raises questions over the future of a technology that has many followers yet steadfastly refuses to take off.
Fuel cells, the product commercialised by ClearEdge, have a history dating back to 1838 and a service record that includes use by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Selling them seems to be a hazardous affair, however.
In 2012, ClearEdge paid USD$48m for the fuel cell business that United Technology Corporation (UTC) had spent a reported $1bn building up.
In April this year, however, Ballard Power Systems bought around 800 UTC fuel-cell intellectual property assets, leading some observers to question what it was, exactly, that ClearEdge had purchased.
But there are doubts even over whether Ballard, one of the biggest names in the fuel cell business, can make the numbers work. Stocks in the company soared at the beginning of the last decade, when fuel cells were expected to be the next big thing in transportation.
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