NEWS handling [see the feature in December 2011]. Plug Power will use its established sales channels to take the technology to market at volume scale, expanding into applications including smallscale robotics, UAVs, and other autonomous applications. The US-manufactured products will incorporate EnergyOr’s lightweight systems into current Plug Power offerings, while applying Plug Power’s MEA stack technology to improve EnergyOr’s products’ cost-effectiveness and efficiency [October 2018, p14]. EnergyOr will maintain its status and presence as a Canadian company. EnergyOr is a leader in fuel cell powered UAV applications, setting several world records for endurance flights [e.g. September 2011, p4]. In early 2015 it powered the world’s first fuel cell multirotor [April 2015, p5], later used by the French Air Force’s Centre d’Expertise Aérienne Militaire (CEAM, Air Warfare Centre) [April 2016, p4]. In late 2015 it developed the H2 Quad 400, the first fuel cell quad-rotor to operate outdoors, and a year later it delivered the first fuel cell powered H2QUAD 1000 multirotor to CEAM [January 2017, p4]. Plug Power: www.plugpower.com EnergyOr: www.energyor.com
ZBT unveils hydrogen test field with labs and fueling station
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he Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Center ZBT GmbH in Duisburg, Germany has unveiled a unique hydrogen test field with laboratories and a hydrogen refueling station, on the campus of the University of Duisburg-Essen. The facilities, to aid the development of a hydrogen infrastructure for mobility, are being funded by the federal and state governments. The test field comprises various electrolysis processes, a test platform for hydrogen refueling stations, a mobile fueling unit, and a hydrogen quality laboratory. The entire chain in the process – from hydrogen production to fueling station technology (including compression, storage, cooling and nozzles) to dispensing to vehicles – is represented. This allows both the further development and testing of individual components for hydrogen infrastructure, and the development and testing of optimised station concepts from a system perspective. The hydrogen quality lab is available for the development of a quality management system for refueling stations, and for monitoring hydrogen quality at German and European 14
Fuel Cells Bulletin
stations. The lab also supports the further development of hydrogen infrastructure, including the underlying regulatory framework, and the optimisation of fuel cell technology. ZBT recently announced a major investment to expand its facilities and establish the HyTechLab4NRW Integrated Laboratory for Hydrogen Technology in North RhineWestphalia (NRW) [FCB, June 2019, p14]. The Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Center ZBT GmbH: www.zbt.de/en
DOE, EC and METI boost cooperation on hydrogen, fuel cell tech
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he Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan (METI), the European Commission’s DirectorateGeneral for Energy (ENER), and the US Department of Energy (DOE) signed a joint statement on future cooperation on hydrogen and fuel cell technologies during the recent G20 Ministerial Meeting on Energy Transitions and Global Environment for Sustainable Growth in Karuizawa, Japan [see also the next two items]. METI, ENER, and DOE share a strong interest in hydrogen and fuel cell technologies which could bring significant benefits to the energy sector, the economy, and the environment. Hydrogen and fuel cells are part of a broad and sustainable energy portfolio, and could be a key to opening up opportunities and value in all sectors, from transportation to industry, as well as enabling reliable, clean and affordable electricity. The organisations believe that their envisaged cooperation can lead to greater international collaboration and contribute to the scale-up of hydrogen in the global economy. To this end, they intend to explore how to best initiate and implement an effective framework for cooperation on hydrogen, possibly through developing a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) in preparation for the 2nd Hydrogen Energy Ministerial Meeting to be held on 25 September. The organisations would plan to work together and with other countries, to accelerate global progress in hydrogen technologies. The envisaged MOC would facilitate the development of concrete actions through cooperation in several possible areas: application of technologies and coordination on harmonisation of regulations, codes and standards; promoting information sharing, and international joint R&D emphasising hydrogen safety and the infrastructure supply chain; study
and evaluation of hydrogen’s potential across sectors, including its potential for reducing CO2 and other emissions; and communication, education and outreach. Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan: www.meti.go.jp/english European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy: https://ec.europa.eu/info/departments/energy_en US Department of Energy: www.energy.gov
Hydrogen Council hits 60 member companies, G20 focus on hydrogen
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he Belgium-based Hydrogen Council reports that six new member companies have joined the global CEOled initiative for hydrogen technologies, bringing the total to 60 companies. The joiners include BP as a steering member, and AVL List GmbH, Itochu Corporation, Liebherr Group, Power Assets Holdings Ltd, and SinoHytec as supporting members. The continued growth of the Council is recognition of the important role that hydrogen can play in decarbonising the global economy. The coalition has more than quadrupled since its launch in 2017 with 13 founding members [FCB, January 2017, p1, April 2018, p13, and October 2018, p14]. The Council covers all key geographies and sectors, and uses its global reach to provide guidance on scaling up hydrogen use around the world. Hydrogen is on the agenda of numerous global forums, and the Hydrogen Council has been at the forefront helping to facilitate strategic conversations between key stakeholders. It recently joined the Clean Energy Ministerial’s Hydrogen Initiative, a new effort that will drive international collaboration on policies, programmes, and projects to accelerate the commercial deployment of hydrogen [June 2019, p1]. Hydrogen Council members participated in several events in conjunction with the recent G20 Summit in Japan [see above item], including participation in the unveiling of the first hydrogen-focused report by the International Energy Agency [see next item]. Hydrogen Council: www.hydrogencouncil.com BP: www.bp.com AVL List GmbH: www.avl.com Itochu Corporation: www.itochu.co.jp Liebherr Group: www.liebherr.com Power Assets Holdings Ltd: www.powerassets.com SinoHytec: www.sinohytec.com/en
July 2019