Transportable FC gensets for temporary power supply in urban applications - FCH-02-10-2017

Deadline: Apr 20, 2017  
CALL EXPIRED

Specific Challenge:

The EU market for temporary and transportable power is increasing due to the general improving economic outlook driving the growth in construction activities, and the increase of social and cultural events (festivals and markets) in urban areas. Diesel gensets are the current status quo in the targeted applications and the societal challenge to be addressed is the reduction of carbon emissions and noise pollution, while achieving higher energy efficiencies in the urban environment. This topic provides a potential ‘doorway’ to the much larger diesel genset replacement market by facilitating fuel cell deployment into “early markets” where diesel genset replacement is reachable due to increasing urban regulations on noise and harmful emissions. The current “clean” alternative is putting connections to the local electricity grid in place. However, due to capacity issues on the grid -most often caused by the charging of electric vehicles- these cables are getting very expensive and/or it is impossible to find the right connection to the grid. The aim of this topic is to demonstrate the technical and business case viability of fuel cells as a disruptive technology capable of replacing transportable diesel gensets and competing clean energy alternatives in the European urban stationary power market in the electrical power range of 25to 400 kW. The specific challenge is providing easy-to-install and easy-to-operate transportable fuel cell solutions - a technology not generally designed to be installed, decommissioned and transported to and from sometimes non-ideal operating environments multiple times during the product life-cycle.

Scope:

This topic focuses on demonstrating robust, transportable, easy-to-install, easy-to-transport FC gensets including feasible fuelling logistics for temporary applications in the power range 25 to 400kW in urban environments. The project has to also include a complete LCA of the concept, including the fuel and logistical costs. The proposals should include at least two manufacturers of FC systems and demonstrate viability in at least two different environments/market segments. Applicants should demonstrate firm commitment from end-users, through conditional orders or direct participation in the consortium during the application phase.

• Applicants should demonstrate a total sum of system electrical power capacity of at least 500kW ; a minimum of 4 systems of 75kW or above built in order to follow the construction site power needs through the whole construction cycle and 4 systems in the lower power range, 25kW or above, to address festivals
• Applicants should demonstrate robustness and ease-of-installation, through the transport and relocation of individual fuel cell systems and that a cumulative electrical power requirement of at least 750 kW will be served by project end.
• Applicants should aim for on-site FC operation for at least 24 months (or 8000 hours). In such a case that the application requirements are less than one year of operation at a particular installation site (festivals, etc.), the applicants should demonstrate the transport and re-use of individual systems at more than one location annually
• Applicants should establish a demonstration/commercialisation pathway for European SMEs innovating in the development, manufacturing and supply chain of fuel cell components
• Establish the basis and further develop, if possible, marketing and sales strategies of European manufacturers
• At project start, system lifetime should be over 15,000 hours and 20,000 hours at project end
• System CAPEX target and availability to be achieved by 2023 is 3,500 -6,500€/ kW and >97% respectively (as defined by the MAWP). Development or procurement of auxiliary system components, robust sheltering and refuelling equipment for challenging transportation, harsh work environment, ambient climatic environment and end-user safety is also within the scope of funding if the applicants can demonstrate them to be crucial as well as non-recurring engineering for the targeted market segment
• The fuel should be hydrogen which is expected to be stored onsite. The fuel delivery and storage has to be demonstrated as well. Fuel production is not included in this topic, but fuel logistics must be mapped and included while analysing the commercial feasibility of the FC gensets.

TRL start: 6

TRL end: 8

Any safety-related event that may occur during execution of the project shall be reported to the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC), which manages the European hydrogen safety reference database, HIAD (dedicated mailbox JRC-PTT-H2SAFETY@ec.europa.eu).

The maximum FCH 2 JU contribution that may be requested is EUR 5 million per project. This is an eligibility criterion – proposals requesting FCH 2 JU contributions above this amount will not be evaluated.

A maximum of 1 project may be funded under this topic.

Expected duration: 5 years

Expected Impact:

• Demonstrate the safe transport and operation of fuel cell systems, portable/transportable fuel storage and refuelling logistics
• Demonstrate the economic viability of each application/ business case selected in the project through real-world TCO analysis
• Demonstrate reduced noise and pollutant emissions related to providing temporary power supply in urban applications as well as faster authorisation process for FC gensets (as compared to diesel generators or grid connections) with respect to regulations concerning installations in , specifically noise and pollution, urban areas
• KPIs to be demonstrated include system CAPEX of 3,500 -6,500€/ kW, availability over 97% and lifetime over 20,000 hoursHigher visibility of stationary FC and hydrogen technology in the public consciousness through high profile urban demonstrations
• A commercial pathway for replacement of diesel gensets with economically feasible, easy-to-install (truck-in and plug-in) power supply in urban areas. A theoretical analysis on viability of FCs as a disruptive ‘diesel genset replacement’ technology post 2020 is highly recommended. This should take into account data collected during the project and a credible analysis of the market situation at project end. This should include but not be limited to H2 cost reductions, improvements in FC lifetime, system and stack component cost reductions, development of alternate fuel/ fuel storage technology, economy-of-scale effect on the supply chain through synergies with large scale FC transport deployments.