Viessmann launches new fuel cell products for residential use

Viessmann launches new fuel cell products for residential use

NEWS SMALL STATIONARY ROAD VEHICLES Editorial office: Elsevier Ltd The Boulevard, Langford Lane Kidlington Oxford OX5 1GB United Kingdom Tel:+44 (0)1...

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NEWS SMALL STATIONARY

ROAD VEHICLES Editorial office: Elsevier Ltd The Boulevard, Langford Lane Kidlington Oxford OX5 1GB United Kingdom Tel:+44 (0)1865 843239 Website: www.fuelcellsbulletin.com Publishing Director: Deborah Logan Editor: Steve Barrett E-mail: [email protected] Production Support Manager: Lin Lucas E-mail: [email protected] Subscription Information An annual subscription to Fuel Cells Bulletin includes 12 issues and online access for up to 5 users. Subscriptions run for 12 months, from the date payment is received. More information: www.elsevier.com/journals/institutional/fuel-cellsbulletin/1464-2859 Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier Global Rights Department, PO Box 800, Oxford OX5 1DX, UK; phone: +44 1865 843830, fax: +44 1865 853333, email: [email protected]. You may also contact Global Rights directly through Elsevier’s home page (www.elsevier.com), selecting first ‘Support & contact’, then ‘Copyright & permission’. In the USA, users may clear permissions and make payments through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA; phone: +1 978 750 8400, fax: +1 978 750 4744, and in the UK through the Copyright Licensing Agency Rapid Clearance Service (CLARCS), 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 0LP, UK; phone: +44 (0)20 7631 5555; fax: +44 (0)20 7631 5500. Other countries may have a local reprographic rights agency for payments. Derivative Works Subscribers may reproduce tables of contents or prepare lists of articles including abstracts for internal circulation within their institutions. Permission of the Publisher is required for resale or distribution outside the institution. Permission of the Publisher is required for all other derivative works, including compilations and translations. Electronic Storage or Usage Permission of the Publisher is required to store or use electronically any material contained in this journal, including any article or part of an article. Except as outlined above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the Publisher. Address permissions requests to: Elsevier Science Global Rights Department, at the mail, fax and email addresses noted above. Notice No responsibility is assumed by the Publisher for any injury and/ or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein. Because of rapid advan­ces in the medical sciences, in particular, independent verification of diagnoses and drug dosages should be made. Although all advertising material is expected to conform to ethical (medical) standards, inclusion in this publication does not constitute a guarantee or endorsement of the quality or value of such product or of the claims made of it by its manufacturer.

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US Hybrid, BYD to develop fuel cell bus for Honolulu Airport

Altergy fuel cells power railroad signal gate crossings for CSX

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alifornia-based US Hybrid is partnering with BYD, the largest electric bus manufacturer in North America, to develop a fuel cell-battery hybrid electric bus. This bus, the first of its kind, will serve Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Hawaii. The bus is being developed as part of the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative, to meet sustainable energy objectives of reducing dependence on imported oil and cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The initiative is a central component of the state’s goal to be 100% powered by renewable energy by 2045. The tour and transportation company Robert’s Hawaii will operate the bus, shuttling passengers between airport terminals and the car rental facility. The bus is being built by BYD Heavy Industries in Lancaster, California, while the PEM fuel cell power unit is manufactured at US Hybrid’s facility in South Windsor, Connecticut. The vehicle will utilise BYD’s battery-electric platform, integrating hydrogen fuel cell technology to eliminate operational dependency on battery charging. Hawaii is aiming to position itself as a global powerhouse for the advancement of hydrogen and other alternative fuels. Projects include the US Air Force demonstrating hydrogen as an alternative fuel at Joint Base Pearl HarborHickam, in a collaboration with the Air Force Research Laboratory and Hawaii Center for Advanced Transportation Technologies [FCB, November 2012, p6]. Last autumn US Hybrid supplied and integrated the fuel cell system in a nextgeneration fuel cell hybrid bus for SunLine Transit Agency in California [January 2018, p3], and contributed likewise to a fuel cell bus at the heart of the first hydrogen transportation ecosystem in Costa Rica [December 2017, p3]. China-based BYD is the world’s largest manufacturer of electric vehicles and the global leader in battery-electric buses, with nearly 40 000 buses in service across North America, South America, Asia, and Europe. US Hybrid Corporation: www.ushybrid.com BYD USA: http://en.byd.com/usa

The content of this newsletter is compiled from a variety of sources, including press releases.

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Fuel Cells Bulletin

Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative: www.hawaiicleanenergyinitiative.org

S railroad operator CSX is now using PEM fuel cell backup power solutions from California-based Altergy Systems, for a critical backup power application at signal gate crossings. Florida-based CSX, which operates railroads in the eastern US and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec, has deployed Altergy’s Freedom Power™ fuel cell backup power supplies to eliminate the need for diesel generators. Altergy’s track record in reliable power supplies, along with its focus on building and refining industry specific products, solutions and services, proved to be the best fit for CSX’s network. Altergy’s fuel cell design allows cost-effective mass production of fuel cells that are robust enough for industrial applications. The company’s customers in the rail sector include backup power for telecoms at the Union Pacific telecom facility in Stockton, California, serving railway switching, communications, and various other critical railway demands [FCB, September 2011, p6]. Altergy’s prime market is telecom backup power [December 2015, p4 and November 2017, p4], but it also addresses critical power needs in industries such as cable [December 2010, p7], public safety, and military and homeland security.

Altergy Systems: www.altergy.com CSX Corporation: www.csx.com

Viessmann launches new fuel cell products for residential use

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erman-based heating systems manufacturer Viessmann has launched the Vitovalor PT2 and Vitovalor PA2 fuel cell heating appliances, featuring longer lifetimes and maintenance intervals, for the supply of power and heat to detached and semi-detached houses. The PEM fuel cell in both appliances – supplied by Panasonic – has an electrical output of 750 W (and 1.1 kW thermal output), can be operated for up to 45 hours without interruption, and generates up to 18 kWh of electricity per day during continuous operation. The new products are designed for a service life of at least 80 000 operating hours, and the fuel

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NEWS / EDITORIAL cell offers such high reliability that it only needs to be serviced every five years, resulting in lower servicing costs. The new systems were launched in the German market in April. The compact Vitovalor PT2 – previously known as the Vitovalor 300-P [see the feature in FCB, February 2015] – consists of two modules: the basic unit with integrated PEM fuel cell, gas condensing boiler and control unit, and the storage tower with a 220 litre domestic hot water cylinder and the complete hydraulic system. Both modules are 1.8 m (just under 6 ft) high. Depending on the required peak power, the new fuel cell heater is combined with a gas condensing boiler with nominal heat outputs from 11.4 to 30.8 kW, which offers flexibility for houses with higher heating loads, for example in two-family homes and existing buildings. The Vitovalor PA2 add-on solution is a fuel cell module for retrofitting in systems that already have a modern gas condensing boiler. The PEM fuel cell, gas conditioning and control unit are integrated in a compact, 1.6 m high housing. Viessmann: www.viessmann.com Vitovalor PT2 (PDF): https://tinyurl.com/viessmann-vitovalor-pt2

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Toshiba pure hydrogen fuel cell in operation at new hotel in Kawasaki

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n Japan, Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation (Toshiba ESS) has delivered a pure hydrogen fuel cell system for Showa Denko KK (SDK), which has been installed in the new Kawasaki King Skyfront Tokyu REI hotel in Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture. Hydrogen to fuel the 100 kW PEM fuel cell system is extracted from recycled used plastics by SDK, a Tokyo-based chemical engineering company [FCB, June 2017, p7]. The fuel cell helps to meet the energy needs of the hotel, which officially opened on 1 June. Hot water cogenerated with electricity will also be utilised for the bath and shower in each room. Pure hydrogen fuel cell systems are highly responsive, and can boot up and start generating electricity in just five minutes. Toshiba ESS has already delivered 100 fuel cell systems to a variety of customers including a convenience store [February 2018, p5], municipal wholesale flower and vegetable market [May 2017, p7], and swimming pool [September 2016, p7, and see the Hokkaido item on page 9 in this issue]. SDK has developed a method of extracting hydrogen from used plastic, using the gas as

June 2018

material for producing ammonia. The company is supplying ‘low-carbon’ hydrogen gas made from used plastics at its Kawasaki Plant, to the Shinsuna Hydrogen Station serving fuel cell electric vehicles in the Koto district of Tokyo [August 2017, p8]. SDK has also been running a demonstration project to promote hydrogen consumption in various situations. The company evaluated more than 100 of the highly reliable Toshiba ESS installations, which has led to this latest order. Toshiba, Hydrogen Energy: www.toshiba-newenergy.com/en/ Showa Denko KK: www.sdk.co.jp/english

French Guiana plans 140 MWh renewable energy storage system

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DF Energy (Hydrogène de France) has launched the CEOG project, which will install its Renewstable® solution to deliver clean, affordable and reliable power to an area of more than 10 000 households that have suffered from energy delivery problems in French Guiana. The CEOG project (Centrale Électrique de l’Ouest Guyanais, Western French Guiana Power Plant) will supply half of the energy needs of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni and Mana, in the northwestern coastal region of the South American country. The project is scheduled to start in summer 2019, with commissioning in autumn 2020. It will create 100 jobs during the construction phase, with 30 permanent jobs. The project is backed by a E90 million (US$106 million) investment from HDF, private investment partners, and several leading banks. HDF Energy’s Renewstable solution combines a 55 MW solar farm with what the company says is the world’s largest renewable energy storage solution, to provide a groundbreaking 140 MWh capacity, based on hydrogen for use in a fuel cell system. This is supported via secondary storage using batteries. The CEOG plant will be installed in the Mana municipality, which is hampered by its electricity production resources (currently a 20 MW deficit). Connected to the EDF station in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, it will generate a fixed electric output of 10 MW during the day, and 3 MW during the night, to guarantee stable electricity production. The Renewstable solution is expected to serve the local electric grid for 20 years, providing a reliable energy source at a lower price than the current real cost of production, without any subsidies.

EDITORIAL

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reen hydrogen is becoming an increasingly important aspect of the hydrogen sector, and is also particularly significant in making the case for clean energy technologies such as fuel cells that can use sustainably produced, zero- or low-carbon hydrogen. In recent years FCB has seen a growing number of news items on ‘green’ hydrogen, which have generally been listed in the Fueling or Energy Storage sections. But this issue features an unprecedented seven items, so it seems appropriate to create a new section specifically on Green Hydrogen [pages 7–10]. For example, Asahi Kasei has started two projects in Germany and Japan to demonstrate large-scale production of green hydrogen using renewable energy sources [page 7]. Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions and Iwatani have started a demonstration project on the Japanese island of Hokkaido, using hydrogen produced from a small hydropower plant to establish a local hydrogen supply chain [page 9]. And in the Netherlands, a new Dutch Hydrogen Coalition aims to build up 3–4 GW in electrolyser capacity by 2030, linked to offshore wind energy [page 8]. The EU is supporting a number of green hydrogen initiatives, including the ELY4OFF project to develop and demonstrate an autonomous off-grid electrolysis system linked to renewable energy sources in Spain [page 8], and the BIG HIT project in Orkney, where green hydrogen produced at the European Marine Energy Centre is used in a building’s fuel cell system and a fleet of fuel cell rangeextender vans [page 8]. The UK government has announced new funding to develop low-cost, low-carbon hydrogen for industry, buildings and transport [page 10]. And in the US, the Department of Energy is funding hydrogen production R&D that is compatible with nuclear energy sources [page 9] – this is another route to zero-carbon hydrogen… The Energy Storage & P2G section [pages 6–7] now explicitly includes Power-to-Gas, which is the topic of three items here – they could be listed under Green Hydrogen, but I’ve decided to keep them separate (for now, at least). Meanwhile, the News Focus in this issue reports on a novel hydrogen refueling method developed at the US DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory, which reduces station equipment cost by 25–30% [pages 14–15]. The researchers have completed a two-year, proof-of-concept demonstration of their patented pressure consolidation technology at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado. They are now looking to license this technology and/or find a partner for a commercial demonstration.

Steve Barrett

Fuel Cells Bulletin

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