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Verizon adds Bloom fuel cell units at three facilities in California
NEWS
Verizon adds Bloom fuel cell units at three facilities in California
U
S telecoms giant Verizon will install Bloom Energy solid oxide fuel cell systems at three of its California-based locations: two call-switching centres in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and a data centre in San Jose. The installation is part of Verizon’s plan, announced in April, to invest $100 million in a solar and fuel cell energy project that will help power 19 of the company’s facilities in California and six other states across the US: Arizona, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and North Carolina [FCB, May 2013, p6]. When completed next year, the project will enable Verizon to generate more than 90 million kWh per annum of its own green energy, and also eliminate more than 15 000 tonnes of CO2 per annum. Verizon’s distributed generation strategy – generating power onsite at the point of consumption, using advanced renewable and clean energy technologies – will accelerate the company’s progress towards its goal of halving its worldwide carbon intensity by 2020. Carbon intensity is a measure of the carbon emissions the company produces for each terabyte of data flowing through its networks. ‘The ability to power our facilities and operations with our own onsite alternative energy sources helps Verizon meet our longterm sustainability goals, while also enhancing the resiliency of our networks and reliability of our services,’ says James Gowen, Verizon’s chief sustainability officer. Verizon is an early adopter of fuel cell technologies, and currently operates one of the largest fuel cell sites of its kind – using a 200 kW PureCell 200 phosphoric acid fuel cell power plant supplied by UTC Power (now ClearEdge Power) [see page 6] – that helps power an environmentally friendly callswitching centre and office building in Garden City, New York [FCB, November 2005, p10]. California-based Bloom Energy has installed its 100 and 200 kW SOFC Energy Server products at a wide range of blue-chip clients. These include 10 MW of power plants at Apple’s new data centre in Maiden, North Carolina [FCB, January 2013, p5], and a total of 17.1 MW installed capacity for telecoms giant AT&T at sites in California and Connecticut [FCB, November 2012, p6]. In other news, the European energy giant E.ON has made a E91.5 million (US$120
July 2013
million) investment in Bloom Energy. ‘With our newly established venture-capital activities, we make targeted investments in companies with technologies or business models that could improve or expand E.ON’s portfolio of products and services,’ says Urban Keussen, the utility’s senior VP for technology & innovation. ‘At the same time we’re helping our partner companies understand our market needs and get access to our infrastructure or markets.’ Bloom Energy Corporation, Sunnyvale, California, USA. Tel: +1 408 543 1500, www.bloomenergy.com Verizon Communications: www.verizon.com E.ON: www.eon.com/en/about-us/innovation.html
PORTABLE & MICRO
US Army CERDEC demos smaller, lighter 10 kW SOFC unit
T
he US Army’s CommunicationsElectronics Research, Development, and Engineering Center (CERDEC) recently hosted a demonstration of a 10 kW tubular solid oxide fuel cell power source. The CERDEC Command, Power and Integration Directorate (CP&I) demonstration, at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, was to showcase the novel power unit for its Department of Defense partners. Attendees included representatives from the Office of Naval Research, Naval Sea Systems Command, Army Research Laboratory, and the Army Test and Evaluation Command. The SOFC unit exhibits high efficiency, low acoustic and visible signatures, and weighs approximately 960 lb (435 kg) dry with a volume of 38 cubic feet (1.08 m3). By comparison, the US Army’s conventional 10 kW Tactical Quiet Generator Set weighs 1100 lb (499 kg) dry with a volume of 41 cubic feet (1.16 m3). Following the demonstration CERDEC CP&I will begin a test and evaluation programme to assess the unit’s overall performance. The solution will be part of the 2014 demonstrations under the Technology Capability Demonstration 4a for Sustainment and Logistics Basing. The SOFC supplier was not named in the CERDEC announcement, but Michigan-based Ultra Electronics AMI has delivered numerous SOFCs to CERDEC [FCB, August 2011, p7], as well as other parts of the US Army, e.g. for military unmanned aerial systems [FCB, August 2012, p3, and see page 4]. CERDEC: www.cerdec.army.mil Ultra Electronics AMI: www.ultra-ami.com
Point Source Power fails on crowdfunding to push HALO charger
C
alifornia-based Point Source Power recently tried using the Kickstarter crowdfunding website to raise money to commercialise its HALO Fuel Cell power source for the outdoor enthusiast and emergency markets. But the company only reached 10% of its $250 000 target by the deadline of 8 July, so it is uncertain what it will do to raise the necessary investment. The portable device utilises the company’s low-cost solid oxide fuel cell technology, originally developed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The HALO Fuel Cell is sized to be a portable, compact and lightweight device that fits standard camping butane/propane fuel canisters. The power source with dual USB ports allows users to keep USB-compatible electronic devices charged up while on camping trips or when left without electricity. The company’s M-SOFC cells are made primarily of stainless steel, with very thin layers of ceramic. This tubular structure is extremely rugged, capable of rapid thermal cycling and abusive thermal shock, and is tolerant to all types of fuels with no fuel processing. Point Source Power turned to Kickstarter to raise funds to initiate manufacturing, including design enhancements, acquiring certification, production tooling, manufacturing, and assembly costs. The company acknowledges that compliance with certification laboratory standards (such as UL) is a key step, and that high-volume manufacturing requires substantial upfront costs – which it is addressing by designing for manufacturability. PSP had hoped to start shipping products by October, but the failure to raise funding through Kickstarter puts a big question mark over that. The company recently launched the VOTO low-cost, biomass-fueled cellphone charger and LED light for users in developing countries, based on an SOFC powered by burning charcoal, wood, or other types of biomass (even cow dung) [FCB, May 2013, p7].
Point Source Power, Alameda, California, USA. Tel: +1 510 814 4545, www.pointsourcepower.com HALO on Kickstarter: http://tinyurl.com/kickstarter-HALO Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Materials Sciences Division: www.lbl.gov/msd
Fuel Cells Bulletin
7
Verizon adds Bloom fuel cell units at three facilities in California
U
S telecoms giant Verizon will install Bloom Energy solid oxide fuel cell systems at three of its California-based locations: two call-switching centres in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and a data centre in San Jose. The installation is part of Verizon’s plan, announced in April, to invest $100 million in a solar and fuel cell energy project that will help power 19 of the company’s facilities in California and six other states across the US: Arizona, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and North Carolina [FCB, May 2013, p6]. When completed next year, the project will enable Verizon to generate more than 90 million kWh per annum of its own green energy, and also eliminate more than 15 000 tonnes of CO2 per annum. Verizon’s distributed generation strategy – generating power onsite at the point of consumption, using advanced renewable and clean energy technologies – will accelerate the company’s progress towards its goal of halving its worldwide carbon intensity by 2020. Carbon intensity is a measure of the carbon emissions the company produces for each terabyte of data flowing through its networks. ‘The ability to power our facilities and operations with our own onsite alternative energy sources helps Verizon meet our longterm sustainability goals, while also enhancing the resiliency of our networks and reliability of our services,’ says James Gowen, Verizon’s chief sustainability officer. Verizon is an early adopter of fuel cell technologies, and currently operates one of the largest fuel cell sites of its kind – using a 200 kW PureCell 200 phosphoric acid fuel cell power plant supplied by UTC Power (now ClearEdge Power) [see page 6] – that helps power an environmentally friendly callswitching centre and office building in Garden City, New York [FCB, November 2005, p10]. California-based Bloom Energy has installed its 100 and 200 kW SOFC Energy Server products at a wide range of blue-chip clients. These include 10 MW of power plants at Apple’s new data centre in Maiden, North Carolina [FCB, January 2013, p5], and a total of 17.1 MW installed capacity for telecoms giant AT&T at sites in California and Connecticut [FCB, November 2012, p6]. In other news, the European energy giant E.ON has made a E91.5 million (US$120
July 2013
million) investment in Bloom Energy. ‘With our newly established venture-capital activities, we make targeted investments in companies with technologies or business models that could improve or expand E.ON’s portfolio of products and services,’ says Urban Keussen, the utility’s senior VP for technology & innovation. ‘At the same time we’re helping our partner companies understand our market needs and get access to our infrastructure or markets.’ Bloom Energy Corporation, Sunnyvale, California, USA. Tel: +1 408 543 1500, www.bloomenergy.com Verizon Communications: www.verizon.com E.ON: www.eon.com/en/about-us/innovation.html
PORTABLE & MICRO
US Army CERDEC demos smaller, lighter 10 kW SOFC unit
T
he US Army’s CommunicationsElectronics Research, Development, and Engineering Center (CERDEC) recently hosted a demonstration of a 10 kW tubular solid oxide fuel cell power source. The CERDEC Command, Power and Integration Directorate (CP&I) demonstration, at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, was to showcase the novel power unit for its Department of Defense partners. Attendees included representatives from the Office of Naval Research, Naval Sea Systems Command, Army Research Laboratory, and the Army Test and Evaluation Command. The SOFC unit exhibits high efficiency, low acoustic and visible signatures, and weighs approximately 960 lb (435 kg) dry with a volume of 38 cubic feet (1.08 m3). By comparison, the US Army’s conventional 10 kW Tactical Quiet Generator Set weighs 1100 lb (499 kg) dry with a volume of 41 cubic feet (1.16 m3). Following the demonstration CERDEC CP&I will begin a test and evaluation programme to assess the unit’s overall performance. The solution will be part of the 2014 demonstrations under the Technology Capability Demonstration 4a for Sustainment and Logistics Basing. The SOFC supplier was not named in the CERDEC announcement, but Michigan-based Ultra Electronics AMI has delivered numerous SOFCs to CERDEC [FCB, August 2011, p7], as well as other parts of the US Army, e.g. for military unmanned aerial systems [FCB, August 2012, p3, and see page 4]. CERDEC: www.cerdec.army.mil Ultra Electronics AMI: www.ultra-ami.com
Point Source Power fails on crowdfunding to push HALO charger
C
alifornia-based Point Source Power recently tried using the Kickstarter crowdfunding website to raise money to commercialise its HALO Fuel Cell power source for the outdoor enthusiast and emergency markets. But the company only reached 10% of its $250 000 target by the deadline of 8 July, so it is uncertain what it will do to raise the necessary investment. The portable device utilises the company’s low-cost solid oxide fuel cell technology, originally developed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The HALO Fuel Cell is sized to be a portable, compact and lightweight device that fits standard camping butane/propane fuel canisters. The power source with dual USB ports allows users to keep USB-compatible electronic devices charged up while on camping trips or when left without electricity. The company’s M-SOFC cells are made primarily of stainless steel, with very thin layers of ceramic. This tubular structure is extremely rugged, capable of rapid thermal cycling and abusive thermal shock, and is tolerant to all types of fuels with no fuel processing. Point Source Power turned to Kickstarter to raise funds to initiate manufacturing, including design enhancements, acquiring certification, production tooling, manufacturing, and assembly costs. The company acknowledges that compliance with certification laboratory standards (such as UL) is a key step, and that high-volume manufacturing requires substantial upfront costs – which it is addressing by designing for manufacturability. PSP had hoped to start shipping products by October, but the failure to raise funding through Kickstarter puts a big question mark over that. The company recently launched the VOTO low-cost, biomass-fueled cellphone charger and LED light for users in developing countries, based on an SOFC powered by burning charcoal, wood, or other types of biomass (even cow dung) [FCB, May 2013, p7].
Point Source Power, Alameda, California, USA. Tel: +1 510 814 4545, www.pointsourcepower.com HALO on Kickstarter: http://tinyurl.com/kickstarter-HALO Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Materials Sciences Division: www.lbl.gov/msd
Fuel Cells Bulletin
7