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FuelCell Energy plant in operation at Cal State San Bernardino
NEWS high levels of reliability and environmental savings achieved through the use of clean, efficient fuel cell technology. ‘We have had a great experience with the reliability afforded our data centre operations since installing our first fuel cells in 1999,’ says Brenda Dooley, president of First National Buildings. ‘They’ve repeatedly proven their value to our business, so we are confident in relying on this latest generation of fuel cell technology.’ By generating power onsite with a fuel cell, First National Bank of Omaha will prevent the release of more than 1500 metric tonnes of CO2 per annum, as well as greatly reduced nitrogen oxide emissions. In addition to reduced greenhouse gas emissions, this PureCell system will enable First National Bank of Omaha to save over a million gallons of water annually [see the feature on the PureCell Model 400 in FCB, February 2012]. ClearEdge Power manufactures large-scale power plants based on phosphoric acid fuel cell technology, through the former UTC Power subsidiary it acquired earlier this year [FCB, March 2013, p8]. In the summer it won an order for a 400 kW PureCell Model 400 for the Busan International Finance Center’s Landmark Tower in Busan, Korea [FCB, July 2013, p6]. ClearEdge also makes the PureCell Model 5 System, a highly efficient, 5 kW combined heat and power (CHP) system re-engineered to utilise phosphoric acid technology [see the ClearEdge Power feature in FCB, July 2011]. ClearEdge Power, Sunnyvale, California, USA. Tel: 1 877 257 3343 (tollfree in US), www.clearedgepower.com
FuelCell Energy plant in operation at Cal State San Bernardino
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alifornia State University, San Bernardino recently commissioned into full operation a 1.4 MW molten carbonate fuel cell power plant, in a joint project with Southern California Edison [FCB, March 2012, p6]. Now integrated into the campus’s central plant, the utility-owned cogeneration system – a Direct Fuel Cell® DFC1500 unit manufactured by Connecticutbased FuelCell Energy – is supplying electricity to the utility grid with ‘waste’ heat to the campus at no cost to the university. ‘Electricity generated by the fuel cell is going straight into the Edison grid, and the university will be able to utilise the waste heat it produces
December 2013
to preheat the campus heating system, resulting in an estimated annual savings of $120 000 from avoided natural gas costs,’ says Tony Simpson, senior director of facilities services at Cal State San Bernardino. The combined heat and power (CHP) configuration of the fuel cell will reduce the campus’s CO2 emissions by lessening reliance on the high-temperature hot water generators currently in operation. The fuel cell uses natural gas to generate ultra-clean electricity, with significantly reduced harmful emissions. The fuel cell is highly efficient; cogeneration DFC power plants can achieve total thermal efficiencies of 90%. The distributed generation nature of fuel cells also enables power generation capacity at the point of use without a commensurate investment in the transmission and distribution grid, for improved energy security. In spring 2010, the California Public Utilities Commission authorised Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) to pursue utility-owned fuel cell installations at California universities. This initiative recognised fuel cells as preferred resources because of their clean generation on fossil fuels, and distributed generation [FCB, May 2010, p7]. Cal State San Bernardino is the fifth California university with a Direct FuelCell installation, representing 8 MW in total power generation capacity. SCE has a similar unit at CSU Long Beach, while PG&E has installations at CSU East Bay, and at San Francisco State University [FCB, August 2011, p6]. Another 2.8 MW system is in operation with BioFuels Energy at the University of California, San Diego, utilising purified biogas from the Point Loma wastewater treatment plant [FCB, December 2010, p7]. FuelCell Energy, Danbury, Connecticut, USA. Tel: +1 203 825 6000, www.fuelcellenergy.com CSU San Bernardino, Cogeneration Fuel Cell: http://tinyurl.com/csusb-fuelcell Southern California Edison: www.sce.com Pacific Gas & Electric: www.pge.com California Public Utilities Commission: www.cpuc.ca.gov/puc
PORTABLE & MICRO
Intelligent Energy unveils Upp to power portable devices
U
K-based Intelligent Energy has launched its Upp™ personal energy
IN BRIEF FCH JU in second 2013 call for proposals The European Commission-supported Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU, www.fch-ju.eu) has announced the second part of its 6th annual call for proposals (http://tinyurl. com/fch-ju-call-2013-pt2). The indicative budget is E23 million (US$32 million) from the FCH JU 2013 budget, with an application deadline of 27 February 2014. This second part of the 2013 call for proposals focuses on the large-scale demonstration of buses and refueling infrastructure; the demonstration of hydrogen production from biogas for supply to vehicle refueling applications; the demonstration for early markets of portable generators, backup power and uninterruptible power systems (UPS); and the cross-cutting development of a European framework for the generation of guarantees of origin for ‘green’ hydrogen. In the summer the European Commission announced that it would contribute up to E700 million ($960 million) to the proposed E1.4 billion ($1.9 billion) budget for the next phase of the FCH Joint Technology Initiative, called Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 (FCH 2) [FCB, August 2013, p10]. Swindon Hydrogen Roadmap under way In the UK, Swindon Borough Council and the economic development agency Forward Swindon have formed the Swindon Hydrogen Group (http://tinyurl.com/swindon-hydrogen), to establish the town as a centre of excellence for hydrogen technologies and services. The group will implement a new Hydrogen Roadmap to develop and deliver by 2020 an integrated programme of hydrogen-based projects through a dedicated consortium. Other group members include BOC and Swindon Commercial Services, who are involved in the UK’s first open-access hydrogen refueling station project at the local Honda manufacturing plant [FCB, October 2012, p7]; Johnson Matthey, whose JM Fuel Cells business is based in the town; and others such as ITM Power, utility SSE, Swindon University Technical College, and the University of Bath. 2013 DOE Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program Annual Merit Review posted The US Department of Energy’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program has posted its 2013 Annual Merit Review and Peer Evaluation Report. Each year at the Annual Merit Review and Peer Evaluation Meeting (AMR), projects funded by DOE’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program are reviewed. The report summarises the comments of expert peer reviewers at the 2013 AMR, which was held in May in Arlington, Virginia. The Review provides PDF downloads of all the project presentations and comments (http:// tinyurl.com/doe-hfc-amr13).
Fuel Cells Bulletin
7
FuelCell Energy plant in operation at Cal State San Bernardino
C
alifornia State University, San Bernardino recently commissioned into full operation a 1.4 MW molten carbonate fuel cell power plant, in a joint project with Southern California Edison [FCB, March 2012, p6]. Now integrated into the campus’s central plant, the utility-owned cogeneration system – a Direct Fuel Cell® DFC1500 unit manufactured by Connecticutbased FuelCell Energy – is supplying electricity to the utility grid with ‘waste’ heat to the campus at no cost to the university. ‘Electricity generated by the fuel cell is going straight into the Edison grid, and the university will be able to utilise the waste heat it produces
December 2013
to preheat the campus heating system, resulting in an estimated annual savings of $120 000 from avoided natural gas costs,’ says Tony Simpson, senior director of facilities services at Cal State San Bernardino. The combined heat and power (CHP) configuration of the fuel cell will reduce the campus’s CO2 emissions by lessening reliance on the high-temperature hot water generators currently in operation. The fuel cell uses natural gas to generate ultra-clean electricity, with significantly reduced harmful emissions. The fuel cell is highly efficient; cogeneration DFC power plants can achieve total thermal efficiencies of 90%. The distributed generation nature of fuel cells also enables power generation capacity at the point of use without a commensurate investment in the transmission and distribution grid, for improved energy security. In spring 2010, the California Public Utilities Commission authorised Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) to pursue utility-owned fuel cell installations at California universities. This initiative recognised fuel cells as preferred resources because of their clean generation on fossil fuels, and distributed generation [FCB, May 2010, p7]. Cal State San Bernardino is the fifth California university with a Direct FuelCell installation, representing 8 MW in total power generation capacity. SCE has a similar unit at CSU Long Beach, while PG&E has installations at CSU East Bay, and at San Francisco State University [FCB, August 2011, p6]. Another 2.8 MW system is in operation with BioFuels Energy at the University of California, San Diego, utilising purified biogas from the Point Loma wastewater treatment plant [FCB, December 2010, p7]. FuelCell Energy, Danbury, Connecticut, USA. Tel: +1 203 825 6000, www.fuelcellenergy.com CSU San Bernardino, Cogeneration Fuel Cell: http://tinyurl.com/csusb-fuelcell Southern California Edison: www.sce.com Pacific Gas & Electric: www.pge.com California Public Utilities Commission: www.cpuc.ca.gov/puc
PORTABLE & MICRO
Intelligent Energy unveils Upp to power portable devices
U
K-based Intelligent Energy has launched its Upp™ personal energy
IN BRIEF FCH JU in second 2013 call for proposals The European Commission-supported Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU, www.fch-ju.eu) has announced the second part of its 6th annual call for proposals (http://tinyurl. com/fch-ju-call-2013-pt2). The indicative budget is E23 million (US$32 million) from the FCH JU 2013 budget, with an application deadline of 27 February 2014. This second part of the 2013 call for proposals focuses on the large-scale demonstration of buses and refueling infrastructure; the demonstration of hydrogen production from biogas for supply to vehicle refueling applications; the demonstration for early markets of portable generators, backup power and uninterruptible power systems (UPS); and the cross-cutting development of a European framework for the generation of guarantees of origin for ‘green’ hydrogen. In the summer the European Commission announced that it would contribute up to E700 million ($960 million) to the proposed E1.4 billion ($1.9 billion) budget for the next phase of the FCH Joint Technology Initiative, called Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 (FCH 2) [FCB, August 2013, p10]. Swindon Hydrogen Roadmap under way In the UK, Swindon Borough Council and the economic development agency Forward Swindon have formed the Swindon Hydrogen Group (http://tinyurl.com/swindon-hydrogen), to establish the town as a centre of excellence for hydrogen technologies and services. The group will implement a new Hydrogen Roadmap to develop and deliver by 2020 an integrated programme of hydrogen-based projects through a dedicated consortium. Other group members include BOC and Swindon Commercial Services, who are involved in the UK’s first open-access hydrogen refueling station project at the local Honda manufacturing plant [FCB, October 2012, p7]; Johnson Matthey, whose JM Fuel Cells business is based in the town; and others such as ITM Power, utility SSE, Swindon University Technical College, and the University of Bath. 2013 DOE Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program Annual Merit Review posted The US Department of Energy’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program has posted its 2013 Annual Merit Review and Peer Evaluation Report. Each year at the Annual Merit Review and Peer Evaluation Meeting (AMR), projects funded by DOE’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program are reviewed. The report summarises the comments of expert peer reviewers at the 2013 AMR, which was held in May in Arlington, Virginia. The Review provides PDF downloads of all the project presentations and comments (http:// tinyurl.com/doe-hfc-amr13).
Fuel Cells Bulletin
7