Fuel Cells for Stationary Power - Global Trends and Technology Developments

Abstract

Rising Environmental Concerns Drive Demand for Green Power and thereby, Fuel Cells

The growing concern for environment and fossil fuels has motivated the industry participants to look for various alternate power generation technologies. Out of the many options, leading research institutions and companies are considering fuel cell-based power generation, as the electrochemical conversion of chemical energy to electricity in a fuel cell is a "green process". The elegant emission profile - emitting trace sulfur and nitrogen - makes these technologies an ideal choice for stationary power applications also.

This Technical Insights study covers various stationary power generation technologies such as phosphoric acid fuel cells (PAFCs), alkaline fuel cells (AFCs), proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFC), and solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). It also analyses the drivers and challenges for different technologies, its applications, and the road map for the evolution of technologies. The research service enables companies to align their positioning strategies to benefit from these technologies.

Power Shortage to Encourage Distributed Generation

Factors such as the widening gap between the demand and supply of power and reluctance of power companies to invest in newer power plants because of lack of returns are expected to motivate the distributed power generation.

"Enhancing or building new power plants could also cause power utilities reserve margins to exceed peak demand," says the analyst of this research service. "This scenario can drive the distributed power generation sector, for which the fuel cell technologies are considered the most appropriate."

Fuel Cell Technology to Gain from the Excess Burden on Transmission Networks

Challenges such as the inability of the present transmission network to handle excess demand, transmission losses, and power quality at the end points will motivate industry participants to consider fuel cell-based power generation technologies.

The domestic requirement of additional electric power is likely to touch 1.7 trillion kilowatt hour (kWh) in 2020. This is three times the requirement during 1980 to 2000. "It will be a significant challenge for any power utility to accommodate such a large incremental load using only its existing transmission and distribution network," notes the analyst.