The Army Corps of Engineers has entered into a cooperative agreement with the Advanced Technology Institute (ATI) to deploy 10 fuel cell backup power units in three mission-critical applications at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. The U.S. Department of Energy and South Carolina Research Authority, the parent organization of ATI, are also partners in the project. The total funding to support the deployment, shared among the partners, is approximately $500,000. LOGANEnergy of Roswell, Georgia, will procure and install the fuel cell equipment.
The project, launched officially on December 16, will assess the performance, durability and life cycle costs of commercially-available fuel cell technology operating in a backup power application. The fuel cells will provide critical backup power to the Fort Jackson Telecommunications Center, Energy Monitoring and Control Facility, and Emergency Services Center. After an 18-month performance monitoring period, the Fort will continue to use the fuel cell systems to provide improved reliability, reduced emissions compared to conventional technologies, and lower lifecycle costs in backing up these mission-essential power requirements. The equipment installations also may provide mutually beneficial workforce development partnership opportunities between Fort Jackson and nearby Midlands Technical College, which has developed and begun offering a fuel cell technician program of study.
“We are delighted to partner with the Departments of Energy and Defense, the City of Columbia and the USC Columbia Fuel Cell Collaborative to bring about this important fuel cell project at Fort Jackson,†said Bill Mahoney, SCRA CEO. “This project illustrates how SCRA’s proven business models can benefit the commercialization process of this rapidly growing technology in South Carolina.â€
The project team is working to complete the installations and have the equipment operational in time to showcase this project during the 20th annual National Hydrogen Association Conference, which will be held in Columbia, South Carolina, beginning on March 30, 2009
via SCRA
