US military bases to test fuel-cell backup power
Eight military installations across the US will be getting fuel-cell backup power systems as part of a joint Department of Defense (DOD)/Department of Energy (DOE) partnership to test how such systems perform in real-world operations.
The $6.6 million demonstration project is scheduled to run for five years.
Working with the Energy Department, the DOD plans to install a total of 17 fuel-cell systems for backup power at the following military facilities:
- Fort Bragg, North Carolina
- Fort Hood, Texas
- The US Military Academy at West Point, New York
- Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland
- Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey
- Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Base, Colorado
- US Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center 29 Palms, California
- The Ohio National Guard, Columbus, Ohio
The two departments are hoping that continued research-and-development efforts will enable further reductions in the costs of fuel cells, and as a result, make fuel cells increasingly competitive in the commercial marketplace.
Over the past decade, the DOE has invested in research and development projects to advance key fuel-cell components such as catalysts and membranes at several companies, including 3M, Dupont, Gore, Johnson Matthey and BASF. According to the department, this research has helped reduce the costs of fuel cells by up to 80 percent since 2002, and many of these innovations are now being used in the fuel-cell units being deployed by the DOD.
The US military risks lost lives, added costs and reduced operational flexibility to deliver fuel supplies and power to combat forces. Officials believe that reducing or replacing fossil fuels with clean-energy technologies like fuel cells could help address these vulnerabilities and improve energy security at military facilities across the US and ultimately across the globe.
Compared with diesel generators, which are often used for backup power, fuel cells use no petroleum, are quieter and produce fewer pollutants and emissions. Fuel cells also typically require less maintenance than either generators or batteries, and can easily be monitored remotely to reduce maintenance time.
The primary challenge facing currently available fuel cells is the higher initial cost for the units, compared to the conventional technologies they replace.
The eight DOD installations selected for the fuel-cell tests were chosen based on responses from a joint DOD-DOE project proposal request. LOGANEnergy of Sandy Springs, Georgia, will manage the project, using fuel cells from four manufacturers: ReliOn Inc. of Spokane, Washington; Altergy Systems of Folsom, California; Idatech of Bend, Oregon; and Hydrogenics Corporation of Ontario, Canada.
