Stationary Class I Fuel Cell Energy Systems
The firm’s energy and environmental attorney team has deep knee and experience with stationary fuel cell systems. A stationary fuel cell is a device that generates electricity through an electrochemical reaction, not combustion. Hydrogen and oxygen are combined in a stationary fuel cell to generate electricity, heat, and water. Stationary Fuel cells are used today in a range of applications, from providing power to homes and businesses to keeping critical facilities like hospitals, grocery stores, and data centers up and running and moving a variety of vehicles, including cars, buses, trucks, forklifts, trains, and more.
Stationary Fuel cell systems are a clean, efficient, reliable, and quiet power source. They do not need to be periodically recharged but continue to produce electricity as long as a fuel source is provided. Due to their chemistry, stationary fuel cells are very clean. Stationary fuel cells that use pure hydrogen fuel are completely carbon-free, with their only byproducts being electricity, heat, and water. Some stationary fuel cell systems can use natural gas, biogas, methanol, and other hydrocarbon fuels. Because stationary fuel cells generate electricity through chemistry rather than combustion, they can achieve much higher efficiencies than traditional energy production methods such as steam turbines and internal combustion engines. To push the efficiency even higher, a stationary fuel cell can be coupled with a combined heat and power system that uses the cell’s waste heat for heating or cooling applications.
Stationary fuel cells are also scalable. This means that individual fuel cells can be joined to form stacks, which can then be combined into larger systems. Stationary fuel cell systems vary significantly in size and power, from combustion engine replacements for electric vehicles to large-scale, multi-megawatt installations providing electricity directly to the utility grid.
Stationary Fuel Cells offer many benefits, including Low-to-Zero Emissions, High Efficiency, Reliability, Fuel Flexibility, Energy Security, Durability, Scalability, and Quiet Operation. They also occupy much less space than other clean energy technologies. For instance, a 10 MW fuel cell installation can be sited on about an acre.
Because of these environmental benefits, federal facility managers are adopting stationary fuel cells to reach mandatory air pollution goals. Utilities and companies working to meet state renewable energy standards and emission requirements increasingly turn to stationary fuel cell technologies.
