Why do we care?

Power outages are almost unavoidable. Whether from weather events, drop in electricity production from renewables, or excess demand on the grid, utilities need to be prepared to deal with them. Poor response to outages is also costly, causing billions of dollars in losses every year. Currently, the most common backup power solutions are either generators or batteries.

Diesel-powered generators are often called into service so infrequently that they burn more fuel during monthly testing than in actual operation. They also still require maintenance, and diesel fuel has a limited shelf life, so finding a liable, cost-effective replacement makes sense.

Batteries also have many issues. With a steep price tag, questionable recylability, lifetime concerns, and uptime/duration, finding an alternative that can overcome some of these issues for not only reliability but resiliency and runtime, makes sense.

Why Fuel Cells?

For a comparable price, PEM or AEM fuel cells can deliver the same generating capacity as diesel generators, but with a smaller carbon footprint, and in the case of AEM, attractive fuel variability. In comparison to batteries typically utilized for backup power in substations, fuel cells hold a number of preferred qualities. They provide readily available emission-free auxiliary electricity to either supplement or replace backup battery systems with the plus of extended run-time.

Who should be interested?

Do you currently use batteries or diesel-powered backup generators for backup power solutions? Suffer from resiliency and reliability issues? Have any assets that you don’t want to worry about for extended outages? Then this event might be of interest for you.

Darcy Video

Come to this event to hear about the potential for fuel cells as a replacement for other backup power solutions!