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Westport Awarded $567,000 by National Research Council of Canada

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--March 1, 2005--Westport Innovations Inc. (TSX:WPT) today announced it has been granted $567,000 in funding from the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) to offset costs related to Westport's work in Asia and the development of Westport's natural gas and hydrogen engine technologies.

NRC's Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) is providing the funding, which will be immediately available to Westport in support of its initiatives announced for the Asian market, particularly China, as well as work on the Isuzu, Ford, and BMW programs.

Bruce Pridmore, Executive Director Pacific Asia for NRC-IRAP Canada, said, "In the last year, Westport has made significant progress on their natural gas and hydrogen technologies, further establishing Westport's worldwide leadership and reputation within this area. NRC-IRAP's mission is to support leading Canadian enterprises like Westport and strategically advance Canadian environmental innovation for the benefit of Canada and the world."

"We greatly appreciate NRC-IRAP's support for the expanded development of Westport's technologies for high-efficiency, low emission diesel-cycle engine solutions," said Phil Hodge, Westport's Vice-President responsible for Westport's China expansion. "NRC-IRAP's Asia Pacific group has been extremely helpful in our efforts to further penetrate the Asian market and we look forward to continuing to work with them in that region."

Westport Innovations Inc. is the leading developer of technologies that allow engines to operate on clean-burning fuels such as natural gas, hydrogen, and hydrogen-enriched natural gas (HCNG). Westport has technology development alliances in place with Ford, MAN, BMW and Isuzu, and an ownership interest in Clean Energy, the largest provider of vehicular natural gas in North America. Cummins Westport Inc., Westport's joint venture with Cummins Inc., manufactures and sells the world's widest range of low-emissions alternative fuel engines for commercial transportation applications such as trucks and buses.

The National Research Council's Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) is Canada's premier innovation assistance program for small and medium-sized Canadian enterprises that provides value-added technological and business advice, financial assistance, and other innovation assistance to companies like Westport.