Ballard Power Systems, a fuel cell and clean energy solutions provider, recorded a net loss of $42.88 million in the third quarter (Q3) of 2022, a year-over-year (YoY) increase of 39%.

The revenue for the quarter was $21.34 million, a 15% YoY decline. The company’s operating expenses were $40 million, which was $12.56 million more than the operating expense incurred during the same period last year. Expenses were driven primarily by higher expenditure on research, technology, and product development activities. Costs were also higher as a result of increased general and administrative expenses.

Ballard’s adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was $35.1 million, a 52% YoY increase. The company said that the difference was mainly due to the decrease in gross margin and surge in operating costs.

Randy MacEwen, President and CEO said, “On the customer front, we continued to focus on platform wins, with commercial milestones achieved in our truck and rail verticals. In trucks, we announced an order from Quantron for 140 fuel cell engines to support their planned deployment of heavy-duty fuel cell trucks in Europe. In rail, we announced orders across three continents, including an order from Siemens Mobility to power seven trains in the Berlin-Brandenburg region and an LOI for up to an additional 200 engines for the European commuter rail market. Our total order backlog grew 11 percent from last quarter to a total of $102 million, with Europe now contributing over half of our total backlog.”

Ballard received approximately $31.8 million of new orders in Q3 and delivered orders valued at $21.3 million, resulting in an order backlog of $101.7 million. Increased orders from Europe represent 55% of the total order backlog.

Ballard’s net loss for the first nine months (9M) of 2022 was $139.07 million, a YoY increase of 97%. The significant rise was due to higher operating costs and a dip in gross margin.

The revenue for the period was 63.32 million, a 6% decrease YoY.

Ballard Power Systems had secured a fuel cell module order from Medha Servo Drives, a rail system integrator, to develop India’s first hydrogen-powered trains. The two retrofitted diesel-electric commuter trains developed for Indian Railways will integrate eight units of 100 kW FCmoveTM-HD+. The trains are scheduled to go into service in 2024, with the potential for additional retrofits following the initial deployment.

Ballard signed a memorandum of understanding with the Adani Group to evaluate the case for the commercialization of fuel cells in various applications in India. The two parties will explore opportunities for fuel cell manufacturing in India.