Hydrogen Fuel Cell for Emergency Backup Power at New Mexico National Guard

The National Automotive Center, US Army Research Development and Engineering Command – Tank Automotive Research Development Engineering Center (TARDEC) is managing a Congressional effort to deploy 20 Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cells at various National Guard Facilities in New Mexico to provide backup power to critical equipment.  The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers ERDC-CERL and Select Engineering Services are providing technical support for the deployment of these fuel cells.  Plug Power Corporation has been chosen to supply the fuel cells , and to facilitate the installation, operation, and maintenance of the fuel cells along with the support from Sacred Power, an Albuquerque based, Native American-owned Company.  This project is in part made possible by the New Mexico National Guard and the State of New Mexico who are showing support for clean energy technology by supporting this deployment.  The commissioning of these 20 fuel cells marks the largest deployment of hydrogen fuel cells in the National Guard. 

 Background:

This project is to deploy twenty Plug Power GenCore® 5B 5kW hydrogen fueled fuel cells at New Mexico Army National Guard sites to provide backup power in times of emergency to its statewide mission critical communications and computer systems.  The fuel cells provide power to critical loads at five different buildings located on National Guard sites in the Santa Fe and Rio Rancho area.  This project expands critical backup capability and surety, provides environmentally sound energy devices and promotes innovation and high-technology expertise within the National Guard. This project demonstrates the commitment of the federal government and the State of New Mexico to move toward alternate energy storage and power generation.

  

Introduction:

This presentation will discuss the Plug Power fuel cell systems, the fuel cell installation sites, the deployment strategy, and the research goals of the project; which include the fuel cell operation, availability, and addresses the lifespan of the fuel cell stack and failure modes of the fuel cell components.  Operational data will be presented on runtime, efficiency, availability, and reliability. 

Progress:

September 2007, site reviews were performed at the various National Guard sites, and the fuel cell installation sites were chosen.  Electrical contractors were selected, site designs were created and reviewed and approved.  In November 2007, Plug Power began installing the twenty GenCore® 5B fuel cells at the National Guard sites.  As of January 31, 2008 all 20 fuel cells installations were complete and the units were fully operational.  The fuel cells are currently providing emergency backup power to the designated critical loads, and are also being tested with a rigorous 12 month test plan that includes forcing a grid outage at regular intervals.    At the completion of the test period the fuel cell ownership will be converted to the National Guard for the remaining lifecycle of the equipment.   

Conclusion:

The analysis of this field trial will provide an unbiased report of the performance of twenty fuel cells being tested in critical load backup situations and supply critical needs to the National Guard facilities.  Lessons learned and improvements to the fuel cell systems will be documented for future projects.  This project will be used as a showcase of fuel cell technology and capability for other National Guard installation with the goal of expanding fuel cell use throughout the National Guard.