Toshiba has announced that it has begun commercial operations of its first 100kW pure hydrogen fuel cell combined heat and power (CHP) system in Shunan, Japan.
Japan-headed global technology major Toshiba Corporation has announced that it has begun commercial operation of its first 100kW pure hydrogen fuel cell system at the municipal wholesale flower and vegetable market in Shunan, Yamaguchi prefecture, the westernmost prefecture of Japan’s main island.
– The focusing technology for commercial-scale fuel cells is the phosphoric acid fuel cell, but we have harnessed our technology to realize a more efficient, environmentally-friendly pure hydrogen fuel cell that generates power and heat free of CO2 emissions. The system is a great fit for a flower market, as it provides power to refrigerators that keep flowers and ornamental plants fresh, and hot water to the heating system, said Hiroyuki Ota, General Manager of Toshiba Corporation’s Energy Systems & Solutions Company in a statement.
The fuel cell system uses the hydrogen produced as a by-product at a local caustic soda plant operated by Tokyo-based Tokuyama Corporation, which is also installing a 100kW fuel cell to provide energy and heat to a local swimming pool in Shunan. In operation, the fuel cell system operates with high-level efficiency to produce electricity and cogenerated heat provided as hot water.
In operation, the day-to-day performance of the system will be monitored to evaluate the use of by-product hydrogen as a fuel under the Ministry of the Environment’s Low-Carbon Hydrogen Supply Chain Project. Toshiba says it will continue to develop diverse technologies, from generation through to utilization, that contributes to the realization of a hydrogen economy.
