Nov 2 2010
FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) and Ballard Power Systems (TSX: BLD; Nasdaq: BLDP) are testing an innovative utility-scale fuel cell system designed to produce one megawatt of electricity – enough to power more than 600 homes.
The demonstration is being conducted at the FirstEnergy Generation Corp. Eastlake Plant in Eastlake, Ohio.
Considered the world's largest proton exchange membrane hydrogen-powered fuel cell, the 54-foot-long unit is mounted on a tractor-trailer for mobility and produces only heat and water as byproducts. Over the next five years, the companies will test the performance of the system in real-world operating conditions to better understand its capability to provide generating capacity during peak usage periods in the months of May through September. In addition, the performance and operating data will be evaluated in collaboration with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI).
"Finding new sources of clean, renewable peaking energy is important for meeting our customers' energy needs and helping us meet increasingly stringent environmental requirements," said Gary R. Leidich, executive vice president and president of FirstEnergy Generation. "This fuel cell system has the added benefit of being mobile, so it can provide peaking power when and where it's needed."
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 from 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.
"Deploying our CLEARgen™ system with FirstEnergy provides an opportunity to demonstrate performance in a utility-scale peak power application," said Michael Goldstein, Ballard's chief commercial officer. "With the increasing interest in clean energy solutions, we are seeing demand for this scalable product across a number of different distributed power generation applications."
Ballard's hydrogen-powered proton exchange membrane fuel cells combine hydrogen fuel and oxygen from the air to produce electrical energy efficiently, quietly and without combustion. The only byproducts of the process are heat and water. Because it uses hydrogen as fuel, the system is considered renewable.
Source: http://www.firstenergycorp.com/