DOE and DOD will test how the fuel cells perform in real world operations, identify any technical improvements that manufacturers could make to enhance performance, and highlight the benefits of fuel cells for emergency backup power. The projects are being conducted under the Memorandum of Understanding the two Departments signed in July 2010.
The interagency agreement covers a number of clean energy topic areas, including energy efficiency, renewable energy, alternative fuels, efficient transportation technologies and fueling infrastructure, as well as smart grid and energy storage technologies.
‘Projects like these fuel cell systems will help reduce fossil fuel use and improve energy reliability at military installations across the country,’ says Energy Secretary Steven Chu – who is not widely seen as a supporter of the fuel cell industry.
Eight military installations will install and operate emergency fuel cell backup power units:
- 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.
- Ohio National Guard, Columbus, Ohio.
The eight DOD installations 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 in Spokane, Washington; Altergy Systems of Folsom, California; Idatech of Bend, Oregon; and Hydrogenics in Ontario, Canada.
The $6.6 million project is a joint effort by DOD’s US Army Corps of Engineers and DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. DOD will manage the project, and DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory will collect performance data for the first two years of this five-year demonstration. The NREL data will be available to fuel cell developers and commercial and government leaders interested in adopting this technology.