Toyota, FuelCell Energy Make Renewable Hydrogen, Electricity

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Toyota Motor North America (NYSE: TM) and FuelCell Energy (Nasdaq: FCEL) announced the completion today of the first Tri-gen system at Toyota’s Port of Long Beach operations. The Tri-gen system, owned and operated by FuelCell Energy, produces renewable electricity, renewable hydrogen, and water from directed biogas. FuelCell Energy has contracted with Toyota to supply the products of Tri-gen under a 20-year purchase agreement. Tri-gen’s carbon neutral products are projected to reduce more than 9000 tons of CO2 emission from the power grid annually.

“FuelCell Energy is committed to helping our customers surpass their clean energy objectives. By working with FuelCell Energy, Toyota is making a powerful statement that hydrogen-based energy is good for business, local communities, and the environment. We are extremely pleased to showcase the versatility and sophistication of our fuel cell technology and to play a role in supporting Toyota’s environmental commitments,” said FuelCell Energy CEO Jason Few.

FuelCell Energy Technology

The company uses an electro-chemical process that converts directed renewable biogas into electricity, hydrogen, and usable water with what’s said to be an efficient, combustion-free process that emits virtually no air pollutants.

• Tri-gen produces 2.3-megawatts of renewable electricity, part of which will be off-taken by Toyota Logistical Services (TLS) Long Beach to support its operations at the port, which processes ~200,000 new Toyota and Lexus vehicles annually.
• The Tri-gen system can produce up to 1200 kg/day of hydrogen, which will provide for TLS Long Beach’s fueling needs for its incoming light-duty fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) Mirai, while also supplying hydrogen to the nearby heavy-duty hydrogen refueling station to support TLS logistics and drayage operations at the port. Hydrogen production is flexible based on needs/requirements.
• 1400 gallons of water will be co-produced per day from Tri-gen’s hydrogen production process. It will be used by TLS Long Beach for car wash operations for vehicles that come into port prior to customer delivery. This will help decrease the use of constrained local water supplies by approximately half a million gallons per year.

Moreover, excess electricity not used by TLS will be delivered to the local utility, Southern California Edison, under the California Bioenergy Market Adjustment Tariff (BioMAT) program, adding a renewable, resilient, and affordable baseload electric generation resource to the electric grid.

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