fuel cells

Microgrids have grown in importance as the need for a reliable and resilient supply of power has grown. The technology has proven itself for a variety of commercial and industrial (C&I) enterprises, in both urban and rural areas where a source of off-grid—or in some cases grid-connected—energy is needed, whether a backup power or as a primary source of electricity.

Today’s energy resilience toolkit includes a growing array of technologies, including diesel generators, natural gas systems, lithium-ion battery storage, solar-plus-battery microgrids—and now, a new class of hydrogen-based solutions that generate clean electricity from moisture in the air. No single option is universally ideal, but understanding their strengths and applications can help communities build more robust and flexible emergency energy strategies.

California-based Bloom Energy, known for its fuel cell technology, announced a partnership with industrial gas company Chart Industries that will see the companies collaborate on carbon capture technology. Chart, a global company with its U.S. headquarters in Georgia, and Bloom on Feb. 13 said the groups will use natural gas and fuel cells to generate […]

The U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) has continued to announce billions of dollars of loan guarantees to energy companies in the final days of the Biden administration, including for upgrades to energy infrastructure. The DOE’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) on Jab. 16 said it had given a $1.66 billion loan guarantee to Plug Power’s subsidiary, […]

Fuel cells are not some novel new technology. In fact, most history books credit the invention of the fuel cell to Welsh chemist and physicist William Grove, who, in the late 1830s and early 1840s, conducted experiments proving that electric current could be produced from an electrochemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen over a platinum […]

A demonstration project led by Caterpillar at a Wyoming site showed that large-format hydrogen fuel cells could be used to supply backup power to a data center. Caterpillar on Jan. 19 announced the project, done in collaboration with Microsoft and Ballard Power Systems, provided insights into the use of hydrogen fuel cells to support energy-intensive […]

A microgrid project in Maryland could become a model for how integrated off-grid systems generate power for commercial and industrial installations, along with producing hydrogen to fuel transportation vehicles. AlphaStruxure, a joint venture of Schneider Electric and Carlyle, on May 18 announced development of project that will feature bus charging and on-site green hydrogen production. […]

Billerica, Massachusetts, March 1, 2023 — Nuvera Fuel Cells, LLC, a provider of heavy-duty hydrogen fuel cell engines for on- and off-road mobility and other applications, announces the commercial availability of 360 kW and 470 kW Nuvera® G-Series Fuel Cell Power Generators, a modular zero-emission power solution for commercial and industrial applications including data centers, electric vehicles, back-up […]

As of December 2022, the Department of Energy (DOE) CHP Installation Database recorded 4,674 combined heat and power (CHP) installations in the U.S., with a combined capacity of 80.4 GW. Installations were all sizes, from large industrial systems that are hundreds of megawatts to small commercial microturbine and fuel cell systems that are tens of […]

VANCOUVER, BC (Jan. 23, 2023) — Ballard Power Systems today announced an order for a fuel cell system to CrossWind, a joint-venture between Shell and Eneco. The Ballard fuel cell system will be integrated in the Hollandse Kust Noord offshore wind project. The Hollandse Kust Noord offshore wind project, located off the coast of the […]