- Email: [email protected]
Toshiba hydrogen fuel cell powering baseball stadium in Sendai
NEWS from a company in South Korea. The two companies have also signed a distribution agreement, under which the Korean company will sell and install 50 residential units in 2019, and then increasing numbers. The order is the result of long-term development work at Helbio, which was spun out from the University of Patras in 2001; in 2013 the Swedish methanol reformer manufacturer Metacon [see also page 8] acquired a majority stake. Over the years, Helbio has developed catalysts, processes and products, and manufactured more than 20 different types of reformers and energy systems delivered worldwide. The products are now ready for series manufacturing and distribution to different markets. The Prometheus 5 system features a multi-fuel reformer that can convert natural gas, propane/ LPG or biogas into hydrogen for supply to the integrated PEM fuel cell, and provides 5 kW electrical output and 7 kW thermal output. As well as residential CHP, the system can be used to supply reserve power for agricultural applications, as a power unit for mobile communications masts, and in areas without a stable electricity grid or where electricity is significantly more expensive than gas. Prometheus 5 is also the name of an EU-funded project targeting the commercialisation and series preparation for 5 kW power output power systems. In 2016 Helbio received SEK12 million (US$1.4 million) in funding under the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme. The system contains a 5 kW fuel cell, fed with hydrogen from the company’s unique catalytic Multi-fuel Reformer. ‘South Korea and Japan are among the world’s leading hydrogen and fuel cell nations, and this is a very good beginning of the commercialisation of this product area,’ says Lennart Larsson, CEO of Metacon. ‘We already have orders for prototypes and distribution negotiations and local licences in several other countries, including for power supply to mobile masts in India.’
supplied by Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation (Toshiba ESS), is now delivering zero-emissions energy at Rakuten Seimei Stadium in Sendai, the capital of Miyagi Prefecture. The Rakuten Seimei Stadium is a 23 000seat stadium and the home field of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles professional baseball team in Sendai – the largest city in the Tohoku region, the northern part of the main island Honshu [FCB, November 2017, p7]. In emergencies, it is also a designated evacuation centre, and houses a regional radio station that will broadcast essential information to support disaster recovery. In emergencies, the self-contained, highly reliable H2One system will provide an uninterrupted, off-grid energy supply that keeps the radio station operational, and also light part of the approaches to the stadium. In normal, day-to-day operation, the H2One will supply ‘green’ energy to the stadium’s electronic display, the Rakuten.FM Tohoku radio station, and light the park near the baseball stadium. The stadium’s H2One pure hydrogen fuel cell system integrates a hydrogen tank fabricated with a very high-density storage alloy. The tank allows all necessary equipment to be stored in one container, shortening the construction period by two-thirds. ‘We have developed hydrogen-related technologies and products that integrate know-how cultivated through our extensive experience in hydrogen production equipment and energy management systems that predict and manage power supply and demand,’ says Hiroyuki Ota, General Manager of the New Energy Solutions Project Team at Toshiba ESS. Toshiba launched the H2One system three years ago [April 2015, p1], and has commissioned systems for a variety of applications, including one for Tohoku Electric Power in Sendai [May 2017, p5]. Toshiba’s own Hydrogen Application Center is built around a redesigned H2One system that uses renewable energy to produce green hydrogen for fuel cell powered forklifts [August 2017, p9].
Helbio: www.helbio.com
Toshiba, Hydrogen Energy: www.toshiba-newenergy.com/en/
Metacon AB: www.metacon.se
LARGE STATIONARY
Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation: www.toshiba-energy.com/en/index.htm
Toshiba hydrogen fuel cell powering baseball stadium in Sendai
GRASSHOPPER plans flexible, cost-effective MW-scale power plant
I
T
n Japan, a newly installed H2One™ autonomous hydrogen energy system,
6
Fuel Cells Bulletin
he GRASSHOPPER project (GRid ASsiSting modular HydrOgen
Pem PowER plant) was launched in the Netherlands in January, at the AkzoNobel facilities in Delfzijl, where the demonstration phase will take place. The kickoff meeting discussed the next steps, and the final demonstration of the power plant using ‘green’ hydrogen. The GRASSHOPPER project aims to create a next-generation, MW-scale PEM fuel cell power plant (FCPP) that is more cost-effective and flexible in power output, at a capital expenditure (capex) below E1500 ($1850) per kWe at an annual production rate of 25 MW. Although MW-scale PEM FCPPs have been demonstrated, such as the DEMCOPEM-2MW project [see the News Feature in FCB, November 2016], this had too high a capex and lacked dynamic operation features for grid support. The FCPP will be demonstrated in the field as a 100 kW sub-module pilot plant, implementing newly developed stacks, membrane-electrode assemblies (MEAs) and balance-of-plant (BOP) system components, and benefiting from coherent design integration. Cost and technical optimisation will be achieved with improvements that target MEAs (increasing current density and active area, reducing material costs including Pt loading), stack design (increasing stack size, power density and operating pressures, while streamlining manufacturability), and overall system BOP (modular design, simplified headers and manifolds for gas distribution, high-efficiency photovoltaic inverters, using offthe-shelf equipment where possible). The demonstration unit will be installed in Delfzijl, where AkzoNobel and Nedstack have been testing PEM fuel cell technology for more than 10 years, utilising the hydrogen by-product stream from a chlorine production facility [July 2011, p6, and see the Nedstack feature in August 2014]. The unit will be operated continuously for eight months in an industrially relevant environment, engaging grid support modulation as part of an established onsite demand-side management (DSM) programme. The consortium unites component suppliers (Johnson Matthey Fuel Cells in the UK [see also page 14], Nedstack Fuel Cell Technology in the Netherlands), research institutions (The hydrogen and fuel cell center ZBT GmbH in Germany, Politecnico di Milano in Italy), and integrators (INEA Informatizacija Energetika Avtomatizacija in Slovenia, Abengoa Innovacion in Spain). They will partner with Distribution System Operators and Transmission System Operators and EU smart grid projects as advisory board members, including AkzoNobel Industrial Chemicals, Tennet TSO, SWW Wunsiedel, and members of the GOFLEX consortium.
April 2018
supplied by Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation (Toshiba ESS), is now delivering zero-emissions energy at Rakuten Seimei Stadium in Sendai, the capital of Miyagi Prefecture. The Rakuten Seimei Stadium is a 23 000seat stadium and the home field of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles professional baseball team in Sendai – the largest city in the Tohoku region, the northern part of the main island Honshu [FCB, November 2017, p7]. In emergencies, it is also a designated evacuation centre, and houses a regional radio station that will broadcast essential information to support disaster recovery. In emergencies, the self-contained, highly reliable H2One system will provide an uninterrupted, off-grid energy supply that keeps the radio station operational, and also light part of the approaches to the stadium. In normal, day-to-day operation, the H2One will supply ‘green’ energy to the stadium’s electronic display, the Rakuten.FM Tohoku radio station, and light the park near the baseball stadium. The stadium’s H2One pure hydrogen fuel cell system integrates a hydrogen tank fabricated with a very high-density storage alloy. The tank allows all necessary equipment to be stored in one container, shortening the construction period by two-thirds. ‘We have developed hydrogen-related technologies and products that integrate know-how cultivated through our extensive experience in hydrogen production equipment and energy management systems that predict and manage power supply and demand,’ says Hiroyuki Ota, General Manager of the New Energy Solutions Project Team at Toshiba ESS. Toshiba launched the H2One system three years ago [April 2015, p1], and has commissioned systems for a variety of applications, including one for Tohoku Electric Power in Sendai [May 2017, p5]. Toshiba’s own Hydrogen Application Center is built around a redesigned H2One system that uses renewable energy to produce green hydrogen for fuel cell powered forklifts [August 2017, p9].
Helbio: www.helbio.com
Toshiba, Hydrogen Energy: www.toshiba-newenergy.com/en/
Metacon AB: www.metacon.se
LARGE STATIONARY
Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation: www.toshiba-energy.com/en/index.htm
Toshiba hydrogen fuel cell powering baseball stadium in Sendai
GRASSHOPPER plans flexible, cost-effective MW-scale power plant
I
T
n Japan, a newly installed H2One™ autonomous hydrogen energy system,
6
Fuel Cells Bulletin
he GRASSHOPPER project (GRid ASsiSting modular HydrOgen
Pem PowER plant) was launched in the Netherlands in January, at the AkzoNobel facilities in Delfzijl, where the demonstration phase will take place. The kickoff meeting discussed the next steps, and the final demonstration of the power plant using ‘green’ hydrogen. The GRASSHOPPER project aims to create a next-generation, MW-scale PEM fuel cell power plant (FCPP) that is more cost-effective and flexible in power output, at a capital expenditure (capex) below E1500 ($1850) per kWe at an annual production rate of 25 MW. Although MW-scale PEM FCPPs have been demonstrated, such as the DEMCOPEM-2MW project [see the News Feature in FCB, November 2016], this had too high a capex and lacked dynamic operation features for grid support. The FCPP will be demonstrated in the field as a 100 kW sub-module pilot plant, implementing newly developed stacks, membrane-electrode assemblies (MEAs) and balance-of-plant (BOP) system components, and benefiting from coherent design integration. Cost and technical optimisation will be achieved with improvements that target MEAs (increasing current density and active area, reducing material costs including Pt loading), stack design (increasing stack size, power density and operating pressures, while streamlining manufacturability), and overall system BOP (modular design, simplified headers and manifolds for gas distribution, high-efficiency photovoltaic inverters, using offthe-shelf equipment where possible). The demonstration unit will be installed in Delfzijl, where AkzoNobel and Nedstack have been testing PEM fuel cell technology for more than 10 years, utilising the hydrogen by-product stream from a chlorine production facility [July 2011, p6, and see the Nedstack feature in August 2014]. The unit will be operated continuously for eight months in an industrially relevant environment, engaging grid support modulation as part of an established onsite demand-side management (DSM) programme. The consortium unites component suppliers (Johnson Matthey Fuel Cells in the UK [see also page 14], Nedstack Fuel Cell Technology in the Netherlands), research institutions (The hydrogen and fuel cell center ZBT GmbH in Germany, Politecnico di Milano in Italy), and integrators (INEA Informatizacija Energetika Avtomatizacija in Slovenia, Abengoa Innovacion in Spain). They will partner with Distribution System Operators and Transmission System Operators and EU smart grid projects as advisory board members, including AkzoNobel Industrial Chemicals, Tennet TSO, SWW Wunsiedel, and members of the GOFLEX consortium.
April 2018