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Considered the world’s largest proton exchange membrane hydrogen-powered fuel cell generator, the 54-foot-long unit is housed in a tractor-trailer for mobility and produces only water and heat as by-products. Ballard Power Systems has announced the successful completion of factory testing of a utility-scale distributed generation system using the company’s proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. Installation and commissioning of the system for a multi-year demonstration at FirstEnergy Generation Corp’s Eastlake Plant in Ohio is planned for third quarter of this year. FirstEnergy Generation Corp. is a subsidiary of Akron, Ohio-based FirstEnergy Corp.

The system is comprised of nine fuel cell modules, a compressor compartment that provides air for the fuel cell reaction, an inverter compartment that converts the power for 640-volt direct current to 380-volt alternating current (AC) and a transformer to step up the voltage to 480-volt, three-phase AC power to the electrical system. This solution have two main novelty: First no one has built such a big hydrogen powered PEM fuel cell generator, second no one has ever tried to tap into the power generation market with hydrogen fueled PEM cells. It was the privilage of high temperature fuel cells, as MCFCs or SOFCs.

The two main issues of the future are the pure water and clean energy. The electrochemistry can provide solutions for both. The K2 Inherently Safe Technology Plant requires water, inert salt and electricity to produce bleach.The production process starts by passing electricity through a brine (salt water) solution using advanced bi-polar membrane cell technology. A by-product of this process, hydrogen, is used to reduce green house gas emissions and can be re-used to generate electricity. Ballard Power Systems and K2 Pure Solutions have finalized a sales agreement to deploy a PEM fuel cell power generator to be sited at a K2 Pure Solutions’ bleach plant in Pittsburg, California reported by Renewable Energy Focus. The fuel cell power plant will utilize by-product hydrogen that would otherwise be burned to generate heat. In supplementing its power requirements with the 163 kW fuel cell generator will displace approximately 220 tons of CO2 emissions annually. However the process needs electricity, which is genereted partially from fossil fuel, the functioning of the bleach plant is not zero emission. The main novelty is the electrochemical technology applied both for the purification of water and the generation of electricity, which efficiencies can be the same for small and big plants and much higher than other technologies. This allows economic operation of water purification at the place of origin.

A large demonstration project for fuel cell electric vehicles, known as H2MOVES, has been announced in Oslo today.

The project, based in Scandinavia, will bring seventeen of the latest state‐of‐the‐art electric vehicles with fuel cells from Daimler and FIAT to Oslo including the establishment of a large scale hydrogen refuelling station in the city by H2 Logic.

The aim is to advance the commercialisation of hydrogen for transport in Scandinavia as well as connecting the region with the strong German initiatives within the area. The project has a budget of €19,5 million financed by company contributions as well as European and national funding from Norway and Denmark.

Ten Mercedes‐Benz B‐class F‐CELL cars from Daimler (Germany), two Alfa Romeo MiTo fuel cell vehicles from Centro Ricerche FIAT (Italy) and five electric city cars with fuel cell range extension from H2 Logic (Denmark) will in 2011 be provided for daily operation in Oslo and on specific tours in southern Norway and the whole Scandinavian region.
Thanks to its long range of around 400 kilometres and short refuelling times, the Mercedes‐Benz B‐Class F‐CELL combines local zero‐emission mobility with long‐distance comfort and compelling performance.

A hydrogen refuelling station from H2 Logic will be designed and built in Oslo. The objective is to provide hydrogen with a fully integrated purchase interface and in an urban environment within one of the densest hydrogen fuelling station network in Europe. The station will comply with the latest international hydrogen refuelling standard SAE J2601 that ensures a safe and fast refuelling in few minutes with the same ease of use and convenience as today. The hydrogen supply will be based on a combination of onsite production and trucked‐in hydrogen, all based on Norwegian electricity of which more than 90% is based on renewable hydro and wind power.

During the project some of the fuel cell vehicles will be employed on a European hydrogen vehicle demonstration tour, coordinated by Hydrogen Sweden and in collaboration with the European Regions’ and Municipalities’ Partnership on Hydrogen and Fuel Cells (HyRaMP). For the on‐site refuelling of hydrogen during the vehicle demonstration tours H2 Logic will also develop a mobile hydrogen refuelling concept for provision of almost 100% CO2 free hydrogen. A safety and certification study will be carried out by TÜV SÜD, (Germany) and SP Technical Research Institute of
Sweden to identify the certification gaps in Scandinavia to accelerate full commercialization of vehicles and fuelling stations.

Source: Fuel Cell Today

A new hydrogen-powered fuel cell hybrid electric scooter will offer city commuting without harming the environment, the chief executive of Intelligent Energy (IE) said at the bike's launch in London. The Suzuki Burgman Fuel Cell Scooter, made by clean power systems company IE and Suzuki Motor Corp., will be tested in Loughborough from this month, with further road tests planned for London later this year.

Fuel cell Suzuki scooter
source: http://www.calgaryherald.com/

"We see a market pull for more energy-efficient products and there is a real drive to bring hydrogen vehicles to market en masse by 2015," Henri Winand. Hydrogen has long been touted as an alternative energy source but one of the biggest obstacles to wider adoption of fuel-cell vehicles is the lack of hydrogen fuelling stations.

The Burgman Fuel Cell Scooter is fuelled by a cylinder of hydrogen, which reacts with oxygen to produce electricity and water. A lithium-ion battery and fuel cell provide the vehicle's power and the only gas emitted through the exhaust is water vapour. Unlike other fuel cell vehicles, the battery does not need recharging. It can recharge itself when accelerating or deccelerating and continues to produce power as long as it has hydrogen and oxygen.

The bike can go up to 350 kilometres without the need for refuelling. This then takes less than five minutes at a hydrogen fuelling station, the companies said. The London Hydrogen Partnership (LHP) aims to have six or more such stations running by 2012 which will be enough to fuel fleets until then, Winand said. IE is also involved in the manufacture of hydrogen-fuelled taxis for London. The LHP hopes to have 50 on the roads by 2012, and will start trialling five hydrogen buses from next month in East London.

According to the Reuters, the Belgian drugs, chemicals and plastics maker Solvay will invest 5 million euros at its Antwerp plant to build a fuel cell capable of powering a truck or ship. Although not in wide use, fuel cells are attracting significant interest and investment as an alternative source of power, produced when hydrogen reacts with oxygen to produce electricity and water. The test fuel cell will be capable of generating a constant flow of electricity of 1 megawatt and a maximum of 1.7 megawatt, Solvay said. Such fuel cells could be used for larger vehicles such as cars, buses, ships and trucks, the company said.

Solvay said the test fuel cell will be built using polymers from Solvay and electrodes from SolviCore, its 50-50 joint venture with Belgian metals and specialty materials maker Umicore NV/SA. The plant in Anterwerp, Belgium, where the test fuel cell will be made, is a joint venture between Solvay and Germany's BASF.