NEWS

6Fuel Cells Bulletin June 2014

technology for low-pressure solid-state hydrogen storage. Furthermore, McPhy’s international distribution network will allow Atawey to address global energy autonomy markets, i.e. inaccessible remote sites not connected to electricity grids, for which gas sourcing is complex and costly.

‘We welcome this agreement with McPhy Energy, who successfully developed this solid storage technology adapted to our specific needs within a very short timeframe,’ says Jean-Michel Amaré, chairman and co-founder of Atawey. ‘This will allow us to develop a high-capacity and long-lasting solution for renewable energy storage under conditions of safety and reliability that are perfectly adapted to Atawey’s systems.’

This month, in collaboration with the French Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission (CEA), a first installation will be delivered for off-grid housing at the French National Solar Energy Institute (INES). Within the framework of the THÉMIS project, a second installation will be also delivered in the third quarter for industrial applications like telecom antennas [FCB, March 2014, p9]. Commercial studies are in progress for installations in French mountain and island regions.

McPhy Energy has developed a proprietary metal hydride-based technique for storing hydrogen in solid form, and also now has a range of electrolyser products for the energy and mobility markets [FCB, February 2013, p9 and October 2013, p7]. The company has been involved in several French and European projects, including GRHYD [FCB, February 2014, p9], and H2BER, which features a wind-hydrogen production plant and a hydrogen vehicle fueling station at the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport in Germany [FCB, May 2014, p1].

Atawey offers energy autonomy solutions providing 0.5–50 kW for between 1 and 30 MWh of energy per annum, and can be adapted to specific site requirements. The MYE 1 is intended for isolated houses, while the MYE 10 is designed for telecom and TV base stations and large-scale tourism infrastructure such as resorts and lodges.

McPhy Energy, La Motte-Fanjas, France. Tel: +33 4 7571 1505, www.mcphy.com

Atawey, Le Bourget du Lac, France. Tel: +33 4 5736 4033, www.atawey.com

FCE installing power plant at University of Bridgeport in CT

In Connecticut, FuelCell Energy is developing a project to install a 1.4

MW molten carbonate fuel cell power

plant at the University of Bridgeport, that will supply approximately 80% of the campus power needs. Onsite power generation will provide energy security and power reliability to university operations, as the fuel cell will operate in a microgrid, capable of operating independently from the electric grid.

FuelCell Energy will install, operate and maintain the plant, which is expected to be operational by the end of 2014. The company is undertaking this project development and expects to close on permanent financing by the time it enters commercial operation. The University of Bridgeport has entered into a multi-year power purchase agreement to buy the electricity and heat produced by the fuel cell power plant.

The university will benefit from the plant’s combined heat and power (CHP) capabilities. By reducing usage of combustion-based boilers for heat, the university will enjoy cost savings and a reduction in pollutants and CO2 emissions from the existing boiler. The heat will be used to generate hot water for heating the recreation centre, a dormitory, and campus apartments. The project enhances the campus microgrid with capital improvements to the university power infrastructure, as well as the ability of the fuel cell power plant to continue to provide power to the campus should the utility grid experience an extended outage.

FuelCell Energy is also collaborating with its Korean partner POSCO Energy to support multinational customers who express interest in fuel cell projects in the other partner’s territory, and synchronise their integrated global supply chain to enhance reliability of supply and support product cost reductions [see page 8].

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

University of Bridgeport, Renewable Energy Research Lab: http://tinyurl.com/bridgeport-re-lab

US military deploys Bloom Energy SOFC power at NSA campus

The US Department of Defense (DOD) has deployed a 1.6 MW

Bloom Energy solid oxide fuel cell installation at the National Security Agency (NSA) campus in Fort Meade, Maryland.

The SOFC power plant generates power onsite, eliminating the need for costly backup infrastructure and critical electrical transmission from the grid. This amount of power generation capacity is equivalent to powering

1200 homes. The prime contractor on the project is ARGO Systems LLC, a Service-Disabled, Veteran-Owned Small Business based in Hanover, Maryland.

The project is an example of how a US manufacturer and a small business can come together to deliver a transformative energy solution that supports the energy and sustainability goals of the federal government. ‘ARGO is proud to have put together a team that delivered a turnkey design and installation of the first ever solid oxide fuel cell powering a DOD facility,’ says Jeff Johnson, chief operating officer for ARGO.

Bloom Energy Servers produce more than 100 MW of clean power for several Fortune 500 companies, as well as non-profit organisations such as Caltech and Kaiser Permanente [FCB, March 2012, p5]. Last year, the company opened a large manufacturing centre in Newark, Delaware [FCB, November 2013, p6], and completed a number of mission-critical projects, including a 6 MW deployment at an eBay data centre in Utah [FCB, October 2013, p3]. It recently commissioned a 500 kW system running on biogas for LPL Financial’s new headquarters in San Diego, which is believed to be the largest net-zero-energy commercial office building in the US [FCB, May 2014, p4].

Bloom Energy Corporation, Sunnyvale, California, USA. Tel: +1 408 543 1500, www.bloomenergy.com

ARGO Systems LLC: www.argo-sys.com

California hydrogen stations lead the way

More details have emerged of the various participants

in the accelerating effort to build up California’s hydrogen fueling infrastructure, with significant financial support from the California Energy Commission [FCB, May 2014, p7].

The largest amount of CEC funding went to FirstElement Fuel in Newport Beach, which has been awarded $2.9 million to construct two 100% renewable hydrogen stations in Los Angeles (Hollywood Boulevard, Lincoln Boulevard), and a separate award of $24.7 million for 17 retail hydrogen stations stretching from Truckee, northeast of Sacramento, down to San Diego on the Mexican border (from north to south: Truckee, Mill Valley, South San Francisco, Hayward, Redwood City, San Jose, Campbell, Saratoga, Coalinga, Santa Barbara, La Canada Flintridge, South Pasadena, Long Beach,

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