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MHPS begins demo testing of SOFC-MGT hybrid unit in Japan
NEWS ‘Our business model of locating clean and affordable power near where the power is used acts to spur urban redevelopment, by enhancing local infrastructure and generating property and sales tax revenue for municipal and state governments to a degree that other clean distributed power generation projects have difficulty matching,’ says Michael Bishop, senior VP and CFO. ‘The high availability of fuel cells drives significant renewable energy credit generation, supporting both project economics and state-level renewable power standards.’ FuelCell Energy is doing well in its home state: earlier this year it announced an order for a 5.6 MW system to provide low-carbon electricity and steam for Pfizer’s R&D facility in Groton [FCB, February 2016, p4], and before that a power plant order from United Illuminating for a new microgrid in Woodbridge [December 2015, p4; see also the News Feature on page 13 of this issue, and the News Features in February and May 2016]. FuelCell Energy, Danbury, Connecticut, USA. Tel: +1 203 825 6000, www.fuelcellenergy.com
MHPS begins demo testing of SOFC-MGT hybrid unit in Japan
M
itsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Ltd (MHPS) in Japan has commenced demonstration testing of a pressurised hybrid power generation system that integrates a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack and a micro gas turbine (MGT). The testing is the latest stage in targeting a commercial launch for business and industrial applications in the near future. The SOFC-MGT hybrid system has been installed at the Senju Techno Station of Tokyo Gas, under a programme supported by the national New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). The number of demonstration sites will be progressively expanded to four, with commercial launch targeted for Fiscal Year 2017. In a pressurised SOFC-MGT hybrid system, power is generated directly by the electrochemical reaction in the SOFC between oxygen in the air and hydrogen and CO extracted from reformed city gas. The hightemperature exhaust from the SOFC is then fed to the MGT, where the heat and pressure, together with residual fuel, are used to generate power. This two-stage approach, with a substantially increased voltage as a result of SOFC pressurisation, significantly boosts the power generation efficiency.
8
Fuel Cells Bulletin
The 250 kW demonstration system delivers a generation efficiency of 55%. It is a followup to the prototype Model 15 system that has been undergoing demonstration testing at Kyushu University in Fukuoka, on the southern island of Kyushu, since spring 2015 [FCB, December 2014, p1]. Three demonstration sites will be added shortly: a factory of Toyota Motor Corporation, which is jointly developing the hybrid system; a plant of NGK Spark Plug Co Ltd (NTK), with which MHPS is forming a tie-up to mass-produce the cell stacks [FCB, August 2014, p10]; and a facility of Taisei Corporation. Demonstration testing at the various venues will focus on the hybrid system’s operating efficiency, operability and durability in diverse environments, and knowhow will be accumulated to help reduce costs and achieve mass production in the run-up to commercial marketing. MHPS was formed in February 2014, integrating the thermal power generation systems businesses of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries [FCB, October 2013, p4] and Hitachi Ltd. Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Ltd: www.mhps.com/en/technology/business/power/sofc
FUELING
CEP opens its latest German hydrogen station in Metzingen
T
he new hydrogen station at the OMV service station in Metzingen, Baden-Württemberg in southwestern Germany is the latest addition to the nationwide hydrogen refueling infrastructure. The inauguration continues the long-standing cooperation between Daimler, Linde, and OMV Deutschland as part of the Clean Energy Partnership (CEP). The new station will improve hydrogen supply in the Stuttgart metropolitan region. This latest facility makes it 22 public hydrogen refueling stations in operation across Germany, with eight of them in Baden-Württemberg [FCB, August 2016, p5]. The deployment is co-funded by the federal ministry of transport and digital infrastructure (BMVI) as part of its National Innovation Programme Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NIP). The initial focus of the infrastructure build-up is on metropolitan areas, with existing stations covering the Berlin, Hamburg, Rhine/Ruhr, Stuttgart and Munich regions, and the process of connecting them has already begun. Within the NIP, Daimler and Linde are contributing with
a total investment of around E20 million ($22 million). The construction of the first public hydrogen station in Baden-Württemberg at Stuttgart Airport in 2009 was also a collaboration between OMV, Daimler, and Linde [FCB, August 2009, p9, and see the Linde feature in September 2014]. Daimler recently unveiled its next-generation fuel cell electric vehicle, the Mercedes-Benz GLC F-CELL, the world’s first plug-in hybrid FCEV [August 2016, p12]. The Clean Energy Partnership – an alliance of 20 leading companies – aims to establish hydrogen as the ‘fuel of the future’ in Germany [see the CEP feature in FCB, June 2011]. The project includes technology, oil, and utility companies as well as most German automakers and two leading public transport companies. The NIP – which has sponsored CEP since 2008 – is focused on research and development as well as demonstration projects, and is coordinated by Berlin-based NOW GmbH (National Organisation Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology). Clean Energy Partnership: www.cleanenergypartnership.de/en NOW GmbH: www.now-gmbh.de/en Daimler, Emission-Free Driving: http://tinyurl.com/daimler-emission-free-driving Linde Hydrogen: http://tinyurl.com/linde-experience-h2 OMV Group: www.omv.com
ITM Power upgrades M1 hydrogen station, has new German head
U
K-based ITM Power has completed the 700 bar upgrade to its M1 Rotherham hydrogen refueling station, an important strategic part of the UK’s hydrogen infrastructure in enabling vehicles from London to access northern England. The company has also appointed Calum McConnell as managing director of its German subsidiary, ITM Power GmbH. In March 2015 ITM announced that it had been awarded funding to upgrade four existing stations, including the M1 Rotherham facility, and build two new stations on strategic partner sites in London. The work is funded by the government’s Office of Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) [FCB, April 2015, p9]. The M1 Rotherham station is located at the Hydrogen Mini Grid at the Advanced Manufacturing Park in Rotherham, just off J33 of the M1, close to the M18 junction [FCB, September 2015, p1, and see the ITM feature in January 2012]. The original 350 bar
October 2016
MHPS begins demo testing of SOFC-MGT hybrid unit in Japan
M
itsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Ltd (MHPS) in Japan has commenced demonstration testing of a pressurised hybrid power generation system that integrates a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack and a micro gas turbine (MGT). The testing is the latest stage in targeting a commercial launch for business and industrial applications in the near future. The SOFC-MGT hybrid system has been installed at the Senju Techno Station of Tokyo Gas, under a programme supported by the national New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). The number of demonstration sites will be progressively expanded to four, with commercial launch targeted for Fiscal Year 2017. In a pressurised SOFC-MGT hybrid system, power is generated directly by the electrochemical reaction in the SOFC between oxygen in the air and hydrogen and CO extracted from reformed city gas. The hightemperature exhaust from the SOFC is then fed to the MGT, where the heat and pressure, together with residual fuel, are used to generate power. This two-stage approach, with a substantially increased voltage as a result of SOFC pressurisation, significantly boosts the power generation efficiency.
8
Fuel Cells Bulletin
The 250 kW demonstration system delivers a generation efficiency of 55%. It is a followup to the prototype Model 15 system that has been undergoing demonstration testing at Kyushu University in Fukuoka, on the southern island of Kyushu, since spring 2015 [FCB, December 2014, p1]. Three demonstration sites will be added shortly: a factory of Toyota Motor Corporation, which is jointly developing the hybrid system; a plant of NGK Spark Plug Co Ltd (NTK), with which MHPS is forming a tie-up to mass-produce the cell stacks [FCB, August 2014, p10]; and a facility of Taisei Corporation. Demonstration testing at the various venues will focus on the hybrid system’s operating efficiency, operability and durability in diverse environments, and knowhow will be accumulated to help reduce costs and achieve mass production in the run-up to commercial marketing. MHPS was formed in February 2014, integrating the thermal power generation systems businesses of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries [FCB, October 2013, p4] and Hitachi Ltd. Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Ltd: www.mhps.com/en/technology/business/power/sofc
FUELING
CEP opens its latest German hydrogen station in Metzingen
T
he new hydrogen station at the OMV service station in Metzingen, Baden-Württemberg in southwestern Germany is the latest addition to the nationwide hydrogen refueling infrastructure. The inauguration continues the long-standing cooperation between Daimler, Linde, and OMV Deutschland as part of the Clean Energy Partnership (CEP). The new station will improve hydrogen supply in the Stuttgart metropolitan region. This latest facility makes it 22 public hydrogen refueling stations in operation across Germany, with eight of them in Baden-Württemberg [FCB, August 2016, p5]. The deployment is co-funded by the federal ministry of transport and digital infrastructure (BMVI) as part of its National Innovation Programme Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NIP). The initial focus of the infrastructure build-up is on metropolitan areas, with existing stations covering the Berlin, Hamburg, Rhine/Ruhr, Stuttgart and Munich regions, and the process of connecting them has already begun. Within the NIP, Daimler and Linde are contributing with
a total investment of around E20 million ($22 million). The construction of the first public hydrogen station in Baden-Württemberg at Stuttgart Airport in 2009 was also a collaboration between OMV, Daimler, and Linde [FCB, August 2009, p9, and see the Linde feature in September 2014]. Daimler recently unveiled its next-generation fuel cell electric vehicle, the Mercedes-Benz GLC F-CELL, the world’s first plug-in hybrid FCEV [August 2016, p12]. The Clean Energy Partnership – an alliance of 20 leading companies – aims to establish hydrogen as the ‘fuel of the future’ in Germany [see the CEP feature in FCB, June 2011]. The project includes technology, oil, and utility companies as well as most German automakers and two leading public transport companies. The NIP – which has sponsored CEP since 2008 – is focused on research and development as well as demonstration projects, and is coordinated by Berlin-based NOW GmbH (National Organisation Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology). Clean Energy Partnership: www.cleanenergypartnership.de/en NOW GmbH: www.now-gmbh.de/en Daimler, Emission-Free Driving: http://tinyurl.com/daimler-emission-free-driving Linde Hydrogen: http://tinyurl.com/linde-experience-h2 OMV Group: www.omv.com
ITM Power upgrades M1 hydrogen station, has new German head
U
K-based ITM Power has completed the 700 bar upgrade to its M1 Rotherham hydrogen refueling station, an important strategic part of the UK’s hydrogen infrastructure in enabling vehicles from London to access northern England. The company has also appointed Calum McConnell as managing director of its German subsidiary, ITM Power GmbH. In March 2015 ITM announced that it had been awarded funding to upgrade four existing stations, including the M1 Rotherham facility, and build two new stations on strategic partner sites in London. The work is funded by the government’s Office of Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) [FCB, April 2015, p9]. The M1 Rotherham station is located at the Hydrogen Mini Grid at the Advanced Manufacturing Park in Rotherham, just off J33 of the M1, close to the M18 junction [FCB, September 2015, p1, and see the ITM feature in January 2012]. The original 350 bar
October 2016