Firms to provide fuel cell power to U.S. base

Two Spokane companies have teamed up to provide fuel cell power to a U.S. Department of Defense base in New Zealand.

Spokane Valley-based ReliOn provided two 1-kilowatt fuel cells. Genesis Fueltech, located in Spokane, provided the fuel processors that extract from methanol the hydrogen gas needed to run the system. Fuel cells convert hydrogen into electricity through an electrochemical reaction.

A kickoff ceremony celebrating the project was held Tuesday, said Phillip Piffer, president of Genesis. Piffer said the installation will represent Genesis’s first two fuel processors “that constitute a commercial product.”

The fuel cells will be providing primary power for a variety of uses, including battery charging and yard lighting at the U.S. Antarctic Program support base in Christchurch, New Zealand. The mix of methanol and water used by Genesis processors has a freezing point of minus 72 degrees, which is applicable for the extreme winter conditions at the site, Genesis said in a news release. The fuel processor generates up to 20 liters of hydrogen per minute, which is enough to produce more than a kilowatt of power.

While Genesis is beginning its foray into commercialization, ReliOn has sold more than 125 of its fuel cell systems in the last year and a half alone. The company recently landed $25 million in venture capital in its second round of financing. ReliOn markets its fuel cells as a back-up power supply in the 500 watt to 5 kilowatt range.

This application will allow ReliOn to demonstrate its versatility, said company spokeswoman Sandra Saathoff.

“We’re happy to be involved in it. It shows that our product is capable of running in different situations, in different climates and with different fuel sources,” Saathoff said.

Saathoff said that most of ReliOn’s clients require eight to 72 hours of back-up power, for which bottled hydrogen is a more suitable fuel source. However, when a client requires hundreds of hours of power, a fuel processor becomes a better choice, she said.

That’s because methanol has a higher energy density than bottled hydrogen and allows for longer run times, with the same amount of fuel taking up less space, said Industrial Research Limited, a New Zealand science and technology company, in a news release. The company is managing the project.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will monitor the system over the next year as part of a search for alternatives to the diesel electric generators now used at remote sites like this, the Industrial Research news release said.