UTC fuel cell 'could be cheaper than national grid'

UTC Power, the fuel cell division of United Technologies, is ready to launch a phosphoric acid fuel cell system for commercial properties.

It claims that this form of power will deliver energy at a cheaper cost than the national grid while improvements to the electrolyte stack have doubled its life expectancy to ten years.

This has caused a big reduction in maintenance costs and production costs have been reduced by changes to design.

The fuel cell will now costs about $1 million to buy and install but will last for twice as long as previous versions and deliver 400KW of power.

UTC Power president Jan van Dokkum said: "This system is cheaper than the grid for between 40 and 60 per cent of energy intensive buildings with a high level of demand for power and heat.

"The number one candidates will be supermarkets, hotels, datacentres, hospitals, and manufacturing plants with high heat demands," he added.

"In the past most fuel cell installations have been demonstration projects where it is hard to make the financials work, but this is a genuinely commercially viable technology. We are now aiming to manufacture 250 fuel cells a year over the next three years using a manufacturing model that can be replicated across multiple sites," Mr van Dokkum told Business Green.

http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2211404/utc-power-launch-fuel-cell

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Source: Adfero