The Columbia Fuel Cell District: Where the Power of Ideas Meets the Future of Power

The Columbia Fuel Cell District:
Where the Power of Ideas Meets the Future of Power

 

 Columbia’s Fuel Cell District - An integrated vision
The vision for the Fuel Cell District is to assemble the talent and assets required to build a fuel cell cluster that will foster economic prosperity for the region, focusing on an “innovation pipeline” from discovery to development to deployment.  Columbia is an ideal city for the first planned end-to-end Fuel Cell District because it has existing research strengths in fuel cells at the University of South Carolina, the focus and collaboration of the region’s political, business and academic leaders, and adequate resources to implement the vision.  Columbia is in the early stages of a renaissance.  The University of South Carolina is building Innovista, a forward looking research campus; the City of Columbia has passed a resolution to create a fuel cell district; and the USC Columbia Fuel Cell Collaborative was formed to leverage the resources in our area and maximize the region’s investment. 

 The project will integrate education and outreach programs, hydrogen production sites, storage and distribution locations including fueling stations, and multiple end-use applications to create the nation’s first end to end fuel cell district. 

 Columbia’s Assets
NSF Center for Fuel Cells: http://www.che.sc.edu/centers/PEMFC/index.html
USC Innovista: http://www.innovista.sc.edu/about/why_innovista.aspx
USC Future Fuels Program: http://futurefuels.sc.edu/index.shtml
USC Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Program: http://futurefuels.sc.edu/innovation.shtml#solid
USC Columbia Fuel Cell Collaborative: www.fuelcellchallenge.com
SCRA Alternative Energy Programs: http://www.scra.org/alternative_energy.shtml
City of Columbia: www.columbiasc.net
EngenuitySC: www.engenuitysc.com
SC Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Alliance: www.schydrogen.org

 Programs to Support Fuel Cell District Development
Greater Columbia Fuel Cell Challenge: The purpose of The Challenge, an initiative of the USC Columbia Fuel Cell Collaborative, is to collaborate with private sector leaders from all areas of the fuel cell market for the unprecedented deployment of fuel cell and other alternative energy technologies into multiple city, university and commercial applications throughout the region utilizing challenge grants.  Phase I of the challenge was launched in 2006 with resounding success, ultimately funding 10 projects.  Phase II was launched in late 2007 with the goal of leveraging the successes of phase I and accelerating Columbia’s vision for a fuel cell district. 
Columbia Hydrogen Fueling Station (planned): In 2007, Columbia leaders began planning to deploy hydrogen fueling infrastructure in support of Columbia’s Fuel Cell District, and in anticipation of the arrival of the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) National Fuel Cell Bus Program demonstration project in the fall of 2008.  With the bus program and a follow-on vehicle acquisition program in the planning stages, the proposed station will provide a baseline capability upon which further development efforts in Columbia can be built. 
Federal Transit Administration National Fuel Cell Bus Program:  FTA funded duel output hybrid electric/fuel cell powered bus will demonstrate in Columbia, SC for a full year, beginning in the summer of 2008.  This bus is a “first of its kind” that will include a greenfield design and integration. 

 Industry Outreach:
Fuel Cell South Annual Conference (May 2007)
National Hydrogen Association “Military Uses of Hydrogen” Conference (October 2007)
International Hydrogen Cities Conference (2008) (planned)
National Hydrogen Association Annual Conference (March 2009)