As a future source of clean, reliable, competitively-priced electricity, the solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) has enormous potential. So much so that both the Canadian and U.S. governments, along with Siemens Westing-house Power Corporation (SWPC), one of the world's largest energy technology companies, have partnered with Ontario Power Generation to build and operate the world's largest pre-commercial atmospheric SOFC to date. The prototype 250 kW combined heat and power system is operated by Ontario Power Technologies (OPT) at its Kipling facilities in the west end of Toronto.
OPT will build on its previous fuel cell development work for SWPC --- going back to the early 1990s -- by contributing to the design and selection of balance-of-plant components for the new system, as well as its assembly commissioning and operation. A number of Canadian technology companies will also participate.
Overall system design, as well as the design and manufacture of the fuel cell stack itself will be the responsibility of SWPC, which owns the SOFC technology.
If all goes well, SWPC plans on accepting commercial orders for the product in 2002, with delivery as early as 2004.
"Once commercially available, this system will have great potential to serve commercial and industrial customers that need significant amounts of heat energy as well as electric power, such as hospitals and office buildings", said Ron Osborne, President and CEO of OPG.
"We're keenly interested in supporting the development of technologies that meet our customer needs and our commitment to using energy resources more efficiently"
Fuel cells have a very wide range of desirable qualities says Mark Tinkler, OPT's Business Development Manager, Project Engineering.
"The atmospheric combined heat/power SOFC design we're building here can produce electricity at about 47 per cent efficiency. A coal plant, by contrast runs at about 33-35 per cent efficiency and a diesel engine is maybe 35 to 40 per cent efficient. When you also recover the heat energy produced by the system (it operates at 1000 degrees Celsius) for cogeneration, you get a fuel utilization efficiency of up to about 80 per cent."
To the energy consumer, the cost of power from a fuel cell is expected to soon be competitive with traditional grid-supplied power. Although the cost of producing a kilowatt from an SOFC will be higher than from central generating plants, the fuel cell can be sited right where it is needed, eliminating the energy losses inherent in transmission. This advantage, when added to its higher fuel efficiency and its cogeneration potential can more than offset the extra unit cost of fuel cells.
The environmental benefits of SOFCs, however, may ultimately be their main selling point to consumers. Although natural gas is used to provide the hydrogen and carbon monoxide the cell needs to generate electricity, there's no combustion involved because the process is electro-chemical. Without combustion, emissions are negligible --- no sulphur dioxide or nitrogen oxide. And because the fuel utilization efficiency is so much higher, the amount of carbon dioxide produced per kilowatt generated is correspondingly lower.
"This project is a perfect match for our strategic direction," said Bob Glassen, OPT's Vice President of Marketing and Sales.
"We're being formed as a new company with a new name to provide technical and laboratory services to the energy and environmental technology industries. The fuel cell project is a perfect example of what we do and who we are. What do fuel cells mean to OPC s future? Where does the SOFC fit into the bigger picture? "
"OPG is in the early stages of deciding how to take it from here, where it might want to be on the SOFC commercial value chain," Mr. Tinkler said.
"As an early adopter of this exciting new technology OPG can sit at the table with SWPC to help determine how and where the solid oxide fuel cell might be a part of its future business direction."
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