The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that as part of an
interagency partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to
strengthen American energy security and develop new clean energy
technologies, DOD will be installing and operating 18 fuel cell
backup power systems at eight military installations across the
country. The Departments will test how the fuel cells perform in
real world operations, identify any technical improvements
manufacturers could make to enhance performance, and highlight the
benefits of fuel cells for emergency backup power applications. The
projects are being conducted under the Memorandum of Understanding
signed between the two Departments in July 2010.



These projects aim to accelerate the deployment of this clean
electricity technology at DOD facilities and provide data that will
help identify future research areas for fuel cells. Continued R&D
efforts will be aimed at further reducing the costs of fuel cells.
And hopefully as costs come down, fuel cells will become
increasingly competitive in the commercial marketplace.



Over the last decade, DOE has invested in research and development
projects to advance fuel cell components such as catalysts and
membranes at several companies including 3M, Dupont, Gore, Johnson
Matthey, and BASF. This research has helped reduce the costs of fuel
cells by up to 80% since 2002, and many of these innovations are now
being used in the fuel cell units being deployed by DOD.



The following eight military installations will be receiving
emergency fuel cell backup power units:



- Fort Bragg, North Carolina



- Fort Hood, Texas



- The U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York



- Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland



- Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey



- Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Base, Colorado



- U.S. Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center 29 Palms, California



- The Ohio National Guard, Columbus, Ohio



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 be
monitored remotely to reduce maintenance time.



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, Inc. of Spokane, Washington; Altergy Systems
of Folsom, California; Idatech, LLC of Bend, Oregon; and Hydrogenics
Corporation of Ontario, Canada.



The $6.6 million project is a joint effort by DOD’s U.S. 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 (NREL) 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.



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. DOE’s Fuel Cell Technologies Program has funded
research and development of catalysts, membranes, and other fuel
cell components that has resulted in more than 250 patents and 30 
commercially available technologies, many of which are in the
military backup power systems announced recently.