Many people reading about fuel cells in the press aren't aware of the other applications they can be used for—portable power for cell phones, laptops, and cellular telecommunications towers to larger-megawatt fuel cell power plants that can keep an entire community running seamlessly. And there are many sizes in between, for almost any power need, offering a combination of benefits unmatched in any other power generation technology.

ReliOn's Independence 1000 uses modular cartridges that can be replaced without interrupting power.

Business Communications Company estimates that the North American fuel cell market for large-scale applications is currently valued at about $251 million. The market is expected to increase over the next four years at an average annual growth rate of 20.7%, reaching $642 million by 2007. Fuel cells have been installed in stationary and large-scale applications for many years now, proving to be a reliable, efficient, and clean form of power. They are currently installed at hospitals, landfills, office buildings, and schools, and are sprouting up in some more interesting places as well, such as a McDonald's, a fire station, and the Democratic National Convention. For mission-critical applications, such as at banks and data centers, they are cost-effective and have proven to be reliable and efficient, even through power outages and brownouts.

Fuel cells use an electrochemical process instead of combustion to convert hydrogen into electricity, so there are zero to low emissions, depending on the source of the hydrogen. Many of the fuel cells for stationary use extract hydrogen from propane or natural gas, while others use gaseous hydrogen directly. They are ideal for stationary and residential applications, either connected to the electric grid to provide supplemental power and backup assurance for critical areas, or installed as grid-independent generators for onsite service in areas inaccessible by power lines.

No other energy-generation technology offers the combination of benefits that fuel cells do. In addition to low or zero emissions, benefits include high efficiency and reliability, multifuel capability, siting flexibility, durability, scalability, and ease of maintenance. Since fuel cells operate silently, they reduce noise pollution as well as air pollution and the waste heat from a fuel cell can be used to provide hot water or space heating for a home or office. In demonstration projects, fuel cells have been shown to reduce facility energy service costs by 20%­40% over conventional energy service, and deliver electrical conversion efficiencies in the range of 40%­60%. The efficiency increases tremendously (approaching 80%­90%) when fuel cells are used in cogeneration applications, where both electricity and the heat of the reaction are utilized.

"It most likely will take a sweeping change in the power and fuel infrastructure of the transportation industry to create a measurable reduction of our dependence on Mideast oil. However, without significant fuel cell progress in the stationary, backup power markets, the vision of a hydrogen economy will simply take much longer to achieve," says Frank Ignazzitto, vice president of government sales for ReliOn (formerly Avista Labs) of Spokane, WA. "An increase in stationary installations today will allow fuel cells to prove out their capabilities and lead to technology improvements and critical cost reductions. This progress will ultimately pave the way for the larger markets."

The Players

There are many companies taking this to heart and working hard on the stationary-application front, and there are numerous installations all over the world.

UTC Fuel Cells has been producing a commercial fuel cell power plant for over 10 years. The PureCell 200 power system (formerly known as the PC25, UTC's phosphoric acid fuel cell) has accumulated more than 6 million hours of operational experience with more than 275 sold in 19 countries on five continents. This model power plant produces 200 kilowatts of electricity and heat (900,000 Btu/hr) suitable for cogeneration applications. The unit can operate either in grid-connected or grid-independent mode switching between modes automatically or on command. North Central Bronx Hospital has had a 200-kilowatt UTC unit, mounted on a second-story rooftop at the hospital, for several years now. The project demonstrates the suitability of fuel cell technology for mission-critical applications such as hospital operating and emergency rooms, and for medical equipment and computers, places where no power outages can be afforded. The $640,000 fuel cell was financed and installed by the New York Power Authority (NYPA) and co-funded with a $200,000 grant from the US Department of Energy (DOE).

The PureCell 200 power system can also generate electricity from anaerobic digester gas (ADG) produced by wastewater treatment facilities and landfills, and has been installed in New York, California, Oregon, and Japan in this capacity. UTC Fuel Cells estimates that a typical fuel cell powered by ADG generates about 1.6 million kilowatt-hours of electricity a year while releasing only 72 pounds of emissions into the environment. Compared to more than 41,000 pounds of pollutants from the average coal- or oil-fired plant, that is a drastic reduction.

New York has been attuned to that benefit for years now. In 1997, the NYPA installed a UTC Fuel Cells power plant at the Westchester County Wastewater Treatment Plant in Yonkers, making it the world's first commercial fuel cell to use ADG to produce electricity. The Yonkers plant generates 17,400 standard cubic feet (scf) of ADG a day. Seventy percent of that ADG is used in boilers and engines and the other 30% (6,000 scf/hr) is flared. The fuel cell captures 3,000 scf/hr of flared ADG for power generation. The EPA measures the emissions of the fuel cell as carbon monoxide less than 1 part per million (ppm), sulfur oxide less than 1 ppm, and nitrous oxides less than 0.37 ppm. The ultra-low emissions, partnered with high efficiency and reliabilty, prompted the NYPA to purchase eight more fuel cell power plants from UTC. Plants have since been installed at four New York City Department of Environmental Protection wastewater treatment facilities in Brooklyn, Staten Island, the Bronx, and Queens.

FuelCell Energy offers the Direct FuelCell (DFC) in three sizes—300-kilowatt, 1.5-megawatt, and 3-megawatt—which can be configured to supply reliable, onsite power to meet customer requirements. Recent sales and installations include Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, Ocean City Community College, Yale University, two Sheraton Hotels, and the Caterpillar Technical Center, among others. The excess heat from the fuel cell can be captured for combined heat and power (CHP) applications, using hot water, steam, or chilled water to heat or cool buildings. The DFC can also operate using ADG as a fuel, and several are installed in California through the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

FuelCell Energy is also working with the DOE through a cooperative agreement with the National Energy Technology Laboratory called the Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance to develop solid-oxide fuel cells for various applications. Program objectives include developing a kilowatt-class power plant that runs on natural gas and, later, propane and diesel fuels. The program also aims to thermally integrate the entire power plant for higher efficiencies and significantly reduce the cost of manufacturing.

ReliOn has a commercially available product, the Independence 1000 1-kilowatt fuel cell, that uses standard industrial-grade hydrogen for backup power applications. This fuel cell is also scalable and multiple units can be grouped together to address larger load requirements. ReliOn's fuel cell uses modular cartridges that can easily be replaced without interrupting power. The Independence 1000 also has an outdoor enclosure to allow for installation in harsh environmental conditions, and several have already been installed in Ohio at microwave radio towers. They have also been installed at the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems and have been delivered to Pennsylvania to provide primary power solutions for the Pennsylvania Statewide Radio Project. "ReliOn is very focused on applications where our solutions can add value today," says Ignazzitto. "Typically, this means critical communication and data transmission systems requiring a highly reliable backup power solution, especially when extended run hours are desired. In these applications, ReliOn's fuel cell systems have demonstrated superior performance and an economic advantage versus incumbent solutions."

Plug Power's GenCore uses proton exchange membrane stacks that run on gaseous hydrogen. "Plug Power continues down the market adoption curve by transitioning from a successful Œearly adopter' phase, where hundreds of units were sold into demonstration programs providing invaluable field experience, to the launch of a commercial product," says George Earle, Plug Power's director of hydrogen infrastructure. "This second commercial product, GenCore, addresses the next step on the adoption curve for premium backup power in critical infrastructure applications. It is in this backup power arena that fuel cells provide an economic advantage today." Plug Power is also developing products for onsite hydrogen generation, home refueling, and other niche markets that will provide the learning to drive performance improvements and cost reductions to enable fuel cells to compete in distributed generation (DG) applications for residences and commercial buildings.

Plug Power has sold and installed numerous units around the country, but its most loyal customer has been the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA). Long Island currently has more fuel cells installed than the entire rest of the United States combined. LIPA has been making great strides with the Clean Energy Initiative, a $355 million, 10-year project that encourages use of clean, new electric generation technologies such as solar photovoltaics, wind turbines, and fuel cells. Through this initiative, 75 fuel cells have been connected to the grid at LIPA's West Babylon substation. This "microgrid" could produce enough electricity to power about 100 average-sized homes over a 12-month period.

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) recently awarded $14.5 million to support 36 DG and CHP projects throughout the state. Three natural gas and two propane-powered fuel cells manufactured by Plug Power will be tested at the Agway Energy Products Training Center in Syracuse, the Dormitory Authority headquarters in Albany, and the New Baltimore Service Area south of Albany. NYSERDA is also providing approximately $311,362 (of $2.1 million) for the installation of two 200-kilowatt UTC phosphoric acid fuel cell systems at Grand Central Terminal in midtown Manhattan.

Ballard Power Systems, through its jointly owned company with Ebara Corporation of Japan, Ebara Ballard, is developing a 1-kilowatt cogeneration stationary system to meet the electricity, heating, and hot-water needs of Japanese homes. Limited volumes of this product are expected to be introduced to the Japanese marketplace in 2004. This fuel cell, powered by natural gas, is designed to operate in conjunction with the existing utility grid, allowing consumers to draw power from the grid when their power consumption exceeds 1 kilowatt. The cogeneration provides both heat and electricity, which yields a cost savings to customers. Ebara Ballard introduced a pre-commercial model in January 2003 and is now focusing development efforts on increasing the reliability and durability of the product, as well as lowering costs.

Installing fuel cells in such a wide array of locations is helping prove to the world that the technology is rugged, durable, and reliable. Most importantly, it shows the general public that although fuel cell vehicles are several years away from commercialization, fuel cells are a viable and attainable solution to the world's energy problems.

Jennifer Gangi is with Fuel Cells 2000, which promotes fuel cells and hydrogen.

DE - November/December 2004