New demand for distributed power generation and clean energy are causing a renaissance in fuel cells. Government agencies and other groups are funding a variety of efforts to make fuel cells more efficient and to bring the cost per kilowatt to produce electricity down to levels that are on a par with other generation technologies.

And while not directly related to the electric utility industry, there are many government and automotive industry efforts under way to improve fuel cells for use in hybrid and clean-fuel cars. Any developments or breakthroughs from these projects potentially could be applied to fuel cells used by power companies.

The main driver for the sudden new interest in fuel cells is to meet the demands for clean, renewable energy. In October, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded $100 million to fund 25 hydrogen fuel cell research and development projects that have applications in both the electrical utilities and automotive fields.

"The Department of Energy is committed to breaking our addiction to oil by creating a diverse portfolio of clean, affordable and domestically produced energy choices," says Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman. "We expect hydrogen to play an integral role in our energy portfolio and we are eager to see hydrogen fuel cell vehicles on the road ."

The projects funded under these awards focused on hydrogen production from diverse domestic sources, hydrogen storage and polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells, which are also known as protein exchange membrane fuel cells. The drawback to the fuel cells has been that the most efficient membrane materials were cost prohibitive for commercial power generation. Some of the funding, however, aims to reduce these costs by looking at new materials.

In a separate effort, also last year, the DOE Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance (SECA) funded six R&D projects to improve solid-oxide fuel cells. They are similar in construction to polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells, but they typically use a ceramic material in place of the polymer membrane.

"These projects are expected to further push fuel cell technology toward the ultimate application of fuel cells in FutureGen, the zero-emissions coal-power resources, says Jeffrey Jarrett, DOE assistant secretary for fossil energy.

Today's solid-oxide fuel cells typically produce from 1 kilowatt to 2 megawatts, but the cost of the ceramics often makes the cells cost prohibitive. The technologies developed in the Energy Department's research projects are aimed at meeting the SECA's goal of commercially viable, $400 per kilowatt solid oxide fuel cell power generation systems by 2010. Jarrett noted that by reaching that target, fuel cells become economically competitive with conventional power systems.

Practical Benefits

These projects are all basic research efforts and as such, products based on this work will start to appear in several years. However, there are other efforts under way that are producing immediate results.

For instance, in March, the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund selected 11 renewable energy projects for the state's two electric distribution companies, Connecticut Light and Power and the United Illuminating, to evaluate. This was round 2 of Project 100, a program created by the Connecticut general assembly to develop "not less than 100 megawatts of renewable energy generation for the benefit of all Connecticut consumers."

With Project 100, the Connecticut fund's recommendations are evaluated by the two utilities. The two can then enter into an agreement with any of the companies involved. In round 1 of Project 100, the two companies negotiated long-term power purchase contracts representing about 15 megawatts of renewable power generation.

In round 2, seven of the 11 companies selected are fuel cell generators. Collectively, the seven companies offer roughly 75 to 80 megawatts of new renewable power generation. Not all seven will be signed to long-term contracts. However, the capacity these companies offer should give electric utilities an idea of the potential power they could get from fuel cells today.