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all applicable US federal motor vehicle safety standards, and are equipped with a long list of safety and convenience features.

For more on Project Driveway and the Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell car, go to: www.chevrolet.com/fuelcell

mobile applications

Plug Power’s Gendrive units for Central Grocers lift trucks

In the US, Central Grocers Inc has pur-chased 220 GenDrive™ fuel cell units

from Latham, NY-based Plug Power, to power the entire lift truck fleet at the food and general merchandise suppli-er’s new distribution center in Joliet, Illinois. The center is currently under construction, and is expected to be operational by the end of March.

Central Grocers chose the hydrogen PEM fuel cell power units, rather than traditional lead-acid batteries, for a new fleet of Yale lift trucks. By using Plug Power’s GenDrive fuel cells, Central Grocers expects enhanced produc-tivity within its distribution center. Powering the entire lift truck fleet with GenDrive will eliminate the need to invest in a battery charg-ing and changing infrastructure, reducing operational costs and opening up valuable floor space for the distribution business. The use of fuel cells also reduces the carbon footprint of the distribution center, and removes the storage and handling of toxic materials associated with the use of lead-acid batteries.

‘Central Grocers represents the first green-field site to incorporate our GenDrive solution into its operations,’ says Andy Marsh, CEO of Plug Power. ‘Greenfield sites offer the poten-tial for the greatest financial and operational benefits to our customers, by eliminating the need for capital investments in batteries and the associated chargers, storage and changing systems.’

The GenDrive units will be fueled by com-pressed hydrogen gas, converted from liquid hydrogen. The units are fueled by the lift truck operator at a conveniently located dis-penser. Pennsylvania-based Air Products will supply an outdoor liquid hydrogen storage and compression system, as well as multiple indoor fueling dispensers. GenDrive can be quickly refueled by the lift truck operator in less than 2 min. This completely eliminates the need to change, store, charge and maintain multiple lead-acid batteries per lift truck.

Yale Equipment Services in Rosemont, Illinois will service both the lift trucks and GenDrive fuel cell units.

Contact: Plug Power Inc, Latham, New York, USA. Tel: +1 518 782 7700, www.plugpower.com

Or contact: Air Products and Chemicals Inc, Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA. Tel: 1 800 654 4567 (tollfree in US/Canada), www.airproducts.com/h2energy

small stationary

US telecoms backup systems order for IdaTech

Oregon-based IdaTech has received an order for 35 of its

ElectraGen™ XTi backup power sys-tems from a major national US mobile telecoms company. The order – the largest the company has yet received for its liquid-fueled XTi system – was fulfilled with the units delivered in December.

The 35-unit order follows successful field trials of IdaTech’s XTi within the customer’s network over the last six months. The systems, which will be deployed in Florida, will provide reliable, extended-duration backup power in this storm-prone state.

The XTi systems will provide backup to the cellular base station network during times of power outage from the electricity grid. The systems will offer long backup times, enabling the base stations to remain operational for days rather than hours. This is particularly important given the Federal Communication Commission’s ruling – resulting from the failure of the telecoms networks following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 – that may require telecoms companies to provide at least 8 h of backup for such sites.

The ElectraGen XTi backup power fuel cell systems are fully integrated units, incor-porating IdaTech’s fuel cell system for power generation and its proprietary fuel reform-ing capability. The latter converts liquid fuel – in the form of the company’s proprietary HydroPlus™ methanol/water mixture – into high-purity hydrogen onsite as needed.

‘This order validates IdaTech’s strategy in the use of reformer-based integrated extended run fuel cells for the telecommunications mar-ket,’ comments CEO Hal Koyama. ‘IdaTech’s unique ability to reform a convenient liquid fuel, HydroPlus, to produce hydrogen only as needed was key to the customer in not only choosing IdaTech as a supplier, but also in its

decision to use fuel cells as a solution to its backup power needs.’

Last fall IdaTech won a major Indian contract to deliver up to 30 000 of its 5 kW hydrogen fuel cell systems by 2013, in col-laboration with Canadian-based Ballard Power Systems and ACME Group in India [FCB, November 2008]. The deal also calls for IdaTech to establish a manufacturing facility in India with ACME.

Contact: IdaTech LLC, Bend, Oregon, USA. Tel: +1 541 383 3390, www.idatech.com

CFCL unveils fully integrated new-generation boilers

Australian-based solid oxide fuel cell developer Ceramic Fuel Cells

Ltd has recently produced its first fully integrated, new-generation boiler unit. The announcement is in preparation for European product deployment in 2009, following successful operation of semi-integrated units for some time.

The unit was completed on schedule, and is currently operating at CFCL’s facilities in Melbourne. CFCL will start shipping Gennex fuel cell modules in the first quarter of 2009, to its European appliance partners for integration into new-generation boiler units. These highly efficient, micro combined heat and power (CHP) systems produce electric power as well as heat for homes.

CFCL has identified a potential annual rev-enue opportunity of c. �1 billion (US$1.3bn) from sales of micro CHP units in its initial target markets of the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Japan. This is achievable on market penetration assumptions of only 5%. CFCL has received one forward volume order from Dutch-based Nuon [FCB, April 2008], for 50 000 units based on agreed targets, and is in discussions to obtain further orders from other customers.

The company has also managed to increase the electrical efficiency of its system from the 50% benchmark announced last fall [FCB, November 2008], to now achieving 55% elec-trical efficiency while exporting 1.5 kW to the local power grid. This exceeds CFCL’s commer-cial targets, and is far higher than the electrical efficiency of the current grid, as well as other microgeneration technologies.

In addition, stack life has been improved by more than 80% in the last year. CFCL is now achieving a degradation rate of less than 0.2% per 1000 h, on a stack that has been producing

Fuel Cells Bulletin February 2009

NEWS

February 2009 Fuel Cells Bulletin5

I N B R I E F

Neah Power acquires solar air-con makerWashington state-based Neah Power Systems, which is developing silicon-based micro fuel cells for military applications and portable elec-tronic devices, has acquired SolCool One LLC, a leader in the solar air-conditioning industry with a strong presence in DC climate control.

Based in California, SolCool specializes in supplying solar air-conditioning systems, and has an established manufacturing partner in China, plus a distribution and support network in various regions around the world. The com-pany has shipped more than 45 systems, and currently has a strong pipeline commitment for hundreds of additional systems through 2010.

‘SolCool has significant strengths in business-to-business sales and wholesale distribution,’ comments Dr Chris D’Couto, president/CEO of Neah Power. ‘[They] work with an estab-lished worldwide distribution network. This acquisition creates some unique and strong synergies between the technology of Neah and SolCool.’

FCE has good 2008, new design for 2009Connecticut-based FuelCell Energy (www.fce.com) recorded record product orders for 32.3 MW of its Direct FuelCell® molten carbonate fuel cell power plants in 2008, while its fiscal year product sales and revenues rose 154%. The company says that its new larger power plant design should move its MW-class products to gross margin profitability in late 2009, building on its successful involvement in ‘green’ initiatives in Korea and expanding markets in the US.

For the year to 31 October 2008, FuelCell Energy’s revenues were $100.7 million, a 109% increase on the $48.2m reported in 2007. Product sales and revenues were $82.7m, an increase of 154% over the prior year’s $32.5m, while R&D contract revenue rose to $18.0m, compared with $15.7m in fiscal 2007.

Overall, net loss for fiscal 2008 was $96.6m, against a net loss of $71.9m for 2007. FCE attributes the increased loss to higher volumes of product sales and revenues resulting in increased operating losses, although at a lower rate than in 2007 as product margins improved.

‘This past year, we doubled revenues, tripled our production rate, and achieved our cost-out goals, putting us firmly on the path to profit-ability,’ says R. Daniel Brdar, chairman/CEO. ‘Customers are demanding low-carbon, green technology, which is driving sales of our prod-ucts in South Korea and the US.’

FuelCell Energy’s latest MW-class power plants will go into production this summer. The cost reduction improvements are primarily driv-en by increasing the power output from 300 to 350 kW per stack, combined with better com-ponent and raw materials pricing derived from volume manufacturing and global sourcing.

1 kW of power for 7000 h in a test station. The company is on track to repeat these results in a complete system during 2009, to achieve a key commercial target of a projected stack life of four to five years (40 000 h).

In other news, to reduce future cash outflow CFCL is deferring some of the planned expen-diture on its volume manufacturing plant in Germany. Working with its contractors and suppliers, the company has revised the project plan to reduce spending from January to May 2009 by A$4.9m (US$3.2m), and the plant is now scheduled for completion in October 2009. The total project cost is expected to be less than the �12.4m (US$16m) budget announced last February [FCB, April 2008].

The impact on CFCL’s commercialization schedule is minimal, with sufficient manufac-turing capacity in Melbourne to continue to supply fuel cell modules to its partners through-out 2009.

Contact: Ceramic Fuel Cells Ltd, Noble Park, Victoria, Australia. Tel: +61 3 9554 2300, www.cfcl.com.au

large stationary

UC San Diego adds power storage to FCE fuel cell project

The University of California, San Diego plans to store power pro-

duced at night from a planned 2.8 MW fuel cell system, and use the energy during peak-demand hours the fol-lowing day, when electricity rates are highest. The methane for the fuel cell power plant will be collected at the city of San Diego’s Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Implementation of the advanced energy stor-age system at UC San Diego was made possible by the recent approval by the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) of a measure designed to lower peak demands on the state’s electrical power grid. Under the CPUC order, UC San Diego’s power-storage system would be eligible for $3.4 million in financial incentives. A formula of incentives encourages non-utility operators of fuel cells and small wind turbines of 5 MW or less to couple those systems to energy storage technologies.

‘The pairing of advanced energy-storage systems with distributed renewable generat-ing technologies is a hugely important step in facilitating the effective integration of renew-ables into the California system,’ says Michael R. Peevey, president of the California Public

Utilities Commission. ‘Increasingly, the state will be relying on renewable resources, like wind, fuel cells and other technologies that do not necessarily produce energy when it is most valuable. Storage solves that problem, trans-forming what would otherwise be low-value energy into high-value energy, that can be used onsite to reduce peak energy demand.’

UC San Diego’s molten carbonate fuel cell system – being manufactured by Connecticut-based FuelCell Energy – will be installed on campus by late 2009. The renewable methane will be collected at the city of San Diego’s Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant and purified by the Linde Group [FCB, January 2008]. The wastewater treatment plant’s methane is cur-rently flared off as waste.

Once in operation, the electrical output of the fuel cell will be used 20 h a day to power the campus grid, and be used 4 h a day to charge batteries, compress air, or employ anoth-er energy-storage technology. This stored power will be discharged the following afternoon dur-ing periods of highest electricity demand. The entire fuel cell project is expected to cost as much as $16m. In addition, the university will capture the waste heat generated by the fuel cell as a continuous power source for 320 tonnes of chilling capacity to cool campus buildings.

UC San Diego is assembling the fuel cell project as part of an 8 MW alternative energy portfolio by collaborating with private inves-tors. The private ventures will finance and build the improvements, taking advantage of investment incentives and tax breaks to lower their net costs. The return on their investment is predictable because UC San Diego agrees to purchase all the power generated at predeter-mined rates.

Contact: FuelCell Energy Inc, Danbury, Connecticut, USA. Tel: +1 203 825 6000, www.fuelcellenergy.com

Or contact: Byron J. Washom, Director of Strategic Energy Initiatives, Business Affairs, University of California, San Diego, California, USA. Tel: +1 858 869 5805, Email: bwashom@ucsd.edu, Web: www-vcba.ucsd.edu

portable & micro

UltraCell launches portable hybrid unit, wins DOE grant

California-based UltraCell has unveiled its higher-power XX55™

reformed methanol fuel cell, which it claims is the industry’s first ultra-compact, rugged portable fuel cell