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Honda at the end of last week began operation of a stationary fuel cell power station on its corporate campus in Torrance, California. This is the company’s first step toward future commercialization of zero-emission backup power generation.
The power station uses Honda’s hydrogen fuel cell technology know-how and contributes to the company’s global goal to achieve carbon neutrality for all products and corporate activities by 2050. In the coming years, Honda will begin applying a next-generation stationary fuel cell system to Honda manufacturing facilities and data centers globally, thereby reducing the company’s greenhouse gas emissions.
“We believe there’s great promise in hydrogen fuel cells for backup power and offsetting potential peak power events,” said Koji Moriyama, project lead of the stationary fuel cell and principal engineer with American Honda R&D Business Unit. “By installing and utilizing our core technology, the fuel cell system, in various applications such as stationary power generation, Honda aims to stimulate hydrogen usage and provide clean energy for potential commercial customers.”
The demonstration stationary fuel cell unit has a capacity of ~500 kW and reuses the fuel cell systems of previously leased Honda Clarity Fuel Cell vehicles, with a design that allows the output to increase every 250 kW packaged with four fuel cells. It has the flexibility to change the layout of the fuel cell units to suit the installation, and to accommodate cubic, L-shaped, Z-shaped, and other packaging configurations. Future stationary FC units intended for commercialization will use Honda’s next-generation FC system jointly developed with General Motors and also set to power an all-new fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) based on the Honda CR-V coming in 2024. (autoinformed.com on: Honda to Build CR-V Fuel-Cell in US)
Over the last few years, the power requirements of data centers have been growing rapidly due to the expansion of cloud computing and big data utilization, and the need for backup power sources has been increasing from the perspective of business continuity planning (BCP). The Torrance fuel cell station also serves as a proof of concept for future commercialization of the power generation unit.
Data centers require high-quality and reliable power, where any disruption in power supply can lead to downtime or problems such as data corruption and damage to servers. Typical stationary backup generators rely on diesel fuel, which result in higher carbon emissions and local air pollutants. Honda says with justification that backup power systems using hydrogen fuel cells offer a promising future for clean, yet reliable and high-quality power generation, especially when operating on so-called “green hydrogen” (1) made from renewable sources, with water vapor as the only emission.
Hydrogen can be stored and transported with a high energy density, and can be refilled in a short time. The “hydrogen circulation cycle,” which starts with renewable energy, consists of three phases – “generate,” “store/transport” and “use.” Starting with the use of water electrolysis technology, electricity derived from renewable energy sources can be converted into green hydrogen, making it less susceptible to fluctuations in power generation due to seasonality and weather conditions. It also becomes possible to transport the energy to where it is needed in the form of “green hydrogen” via transport by land, sea, and pipeline.
Inevitable Footnote
1 Hydrogen produced by electrolyzing water using renewable energy, which emits no CO2 during the production process
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Honda Using Fuel Cell to Back Up Power at Its Data Center
Click for more information.
Honda at the end of last week began operation of a stationary fuel cell power station on its corporate campus in Torrance, California. This is the company’s first step toward future commercialization of zero-emission backup power generation.
The power station uses Honda’s hydrogen fuel cell technology know-how and contributes to the company’s global goal to achieve carbon neutrality for all products and corporate activities by 2050. In the coming years, Honda will begin applying a next-generation stationary fuel cell system to Honda manufacturing facilities and data centers globally, thereby reducing the company’s greenhouse gas emissions.
“We believe there’s great promise in hydrogen fuel cells for backup power and offsetting potential peak power events,” said Koji Moriyama, project lead of the stationary fuel cell and principal engineer with American Honda R&D Business Unit. “By installing and utilizing our core technology, the fuel cell system, in various applications such as stationary power generation, Honda aims to stimulate hydrogen usage and provide clean energy for potential commercial customers.”
The demonstration stationary fuel cell unit has a capacity of ~500 kW and reuses the fuel cell systems of previously leased Honda Clarity Fuel Cell vehicles, with a design that allows the output to increase every 250 kW packaged with four fuel cells. It has the flexibility to change the layout of the fuel cell units to suit the installation, and to accommodate cubic, L-shaped, Z-shaped, and other packaging configurations. Future stationary FC units intended for commercialization will use Honda’s next-generation FC system jointly developed with General Motors and also set to power an all-new fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) based on the Honda CR-V coming in 2024. (autoinformed.com on: Honda to Build CR-V Fuel-Cell in US)
Over the last few years, the power requirements of data centers have been growing rapidly due to the expansion of cloud computing and big data utilization, and the need for backup power sources has been increasing from the perspective of business continuity planning (BCP). The Torrance fuel cell station also serves as a proof of concept for future commercialization of the power generation unit.
Data centers require high-quality and reliable power, where any disruption in power supply can lead to downtime or problems such as data corruption and damage to servers. Typical stationary backup generators rely on diesel fuel, which result in higher carbon emissions and local air pollutants. Honda says with justification that backup power systems using hydrogen fuel cells offer a promising future for clean, yet reliable and high-quality power generation, especially when operating on so-called “green hydrogen” (1) made from renewable sources, with water vapor as the only emission.
Hydrogen can be stored and transported with a high energy density, and can be refilled in a short time. The “hydrogen circulation cycle,” which starts with renewable energy, consists of three phases – “generate,” “store/transport” and “use.” Starting with the use of water electrolysis technology, electricity derived from renewable energy sources can be converted into green hydrogen, making it less susceptible to fluctuations in power generation due to seasonality and weather conditions. It also becomes possible to transport the energy to where it is needed in the form of “green hydrogen” via transport by land, sea, and pipeline.
Inevitable Footnote
1 Hydrogen produced by electrolyzing water using renewable energy, which emits no CO2 during the production process
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