Episode 139 | Colossal Chemistry | FuelCell Energy
I would venture to guess most of you believe two things about fuel cells, 1) they predominantly run on hydrogen, and 2) The biggest models could only power a car.
Connecticut-based FuelCell Energy dispels both of those notions. Founded in 1968, they specialize in commercial scale, multi-fuel systems. Their largest unit can produce 3.7 megawatts of power. Their project in South Korea—the largest fuel-cell plant on earth—produces nearly 60 megawatts.
My guest, CTO Tony Leo, says FuelCell units can run on practically any hydrocarbon, i.e. natural gas, renewable biogas, methane, propane. The secret is that their units strip off the hydrogen from these molecules and use that to make power.
“Our fuel cells can run on hydrogen,” he says, “but they can run on fuels that are available here today and they’ll be ready to support a hydrogen infrastructure in the future.”
In addition to power production, the chemical process also isolates carbon dioxide, which could be captured. Even if the CO2 were vented, Tony says there is less carbon dioxide produced-per-kilowatt than a typical combustion power process.
A unit that can split hydrogen and carbon dioxide, Tony says, could also 1) produce and bank hydrogen for storage, and 2) capture CO2 from exhaust gases at adjacent facilities. Tony also adds the power produced is comparably affordable.
My wife and I would call this “too much awesome.” What’s the drawback? The only objection might be that FuelCell’s units aren’t utility-scale (i.e. 400MW). But Tony says their clients preferred them as a solution precisely because they were not utility-scale, opting instead for a solution that produced power locally—a microgrid.
He cites their project at Pfizer’s eastern Connecticut as such an example. Plagued by outages from the grid, Tony says Pfizer—a ground-zero player in the COVID response—wanted the reliability on-site power could provide.
For now, Tony says they are focusing on supplying power with whatever fuel source is provided. Is hydrogen on the horizon? Who knows?
“We’re ready for whatever fuel the market wants to throw at us,” says Tony.
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