Calstart, a Pasadena alternative transportation consortium, has won $10.2 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Transportation to develop technologies for fuel-cell powered buses.

The grants, announced Tuesday, will go to two Calstart member companies, Ballard Power Systems of Burnaby, British Columbia and UTC Power, a unit of South Windsor-based United Technologies Corp. The companies have facilities at Calstart in Pasadena, and much of the work on the project will be done there.

The money will be used to develop fuel cells for buses that cost less and are more efficient than current fuel cells on the market. Some of the money will also go toward testing the fuel cell buses on the streets of Chicago.

“Adapting fuel-cell technology to buses will result in a cleaner environment and quieter streets for everyone,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement announcing the grants.

Calstart chief executive John Boesel said the grants will help fuel cell-powered buses move closer to commercial viability.