Parts of the world with high electricity costs are welcoming fuel cells made of nickel and stainless steel as an alternative to traditional power generation.
Connecticut-based FuelCell Energy Inc., which delivered its first commercial unit of the nickel-bearing fuel cells at the beginning of 2003, has already installed 35 power plants around the world including Germany, Japan, Spain and the United States. And the market is broadening.
“Our targets are areas of the world where there are high electricity costs and substantial incentive funding (for green power),” says Steven Eschbach, director of investor relations and communications for FuelCell Energy. “California and Japan are the most prolific markets today, but we think there are opportunities in the northeast (U.S.) where there are high electricity costs and lots of pollution.”
In the third quarter ended July 31 alone, FuelCell’s product sales reached US$3.6 million. The company expects to ship another 4 to 6 power plants to customers in Japan and the United States by the end of the fiscal year.
The company’s Direct FuelCells (DFC), so-called because they do not require external hydrogen generation but operate directly on available fuels such as natural gas, are high-temperature, high-efficiency molten carbonate fuel cells designed for stationary applications.
The DFCs consist of a ceramic-based matrix layer sandwiched between an anode made of porous nickel strip and a cathode made of nickel oxide strip. A hydrocarbon, such as natural gas, is fed to the anode while air is fed to the cathode. In a process called reforming, hydrogen is extracted from the fuel and mixes with the air inside the fuel cell to produce electricity, heat and water.
Nickel is used to make the anodes and cathodes because it is a good conductor of heat and is resistant to corrosion.
Although the cost of generating electricity from carbonate fuel cells is much higher (16 cents per kilowatt hour at current natural gas prices) than the average cost of electricity from traditional sources (about 10 cents per kilowatt hour), the environmental benefits are significant. FuelCell’s DFCs emit considerably less CO2 than engine-based technologies because they are twice as efficient.
Another advantage DFC technology has over its main fuel cell competitor, proton exchange membrane (PEM) technology, is that the heat generated by the unit can be captured and used as thermal energy. At a Sheraton hotel in New Jersey, for example, heat generated by the 250 kilowatt DFC power plant is used to heat the hotel’s water. At a Michelin plant in Germany, the heat is used to generate steam for tire vulcanization.
And the unit can run on any hydrocarbon fuel, not just natural gas. At the Kirin brewery in Japan, the power plant runs on brewery gas. At a Los Angeles wastewater treatment facility, DFCs successfully operated on biogas generated by the treatment process in field trials.
Currently, all of FuelCell’s current customers require government subsidies to cover the cost premium for the green electricity. But Eschbach says the company is working hard to lower the cost of its units. By the year 2007, the company aims to have reduced the cost of its units by 75%.