International Fuel Cells, Inc. has developed an technology that increases the power of automotive fuel cells by 15 percent while shrinking their size, an important step towards commercializing fuel cells for automobiles. IFC claims the system is quieter, less complex and more efficient than the pressurized systems more commonly under development. IFC, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp., supplies the fuel cells used on NASA’s Space Shuttle.
Plug Power Inc. – a fuel cell systems designer for residential power generation – cut the ribbon on its new 50,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Latham, New York, doubling its production space. The facility will begin producing Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cells for field testing later this year in preparation for commercial sales beginning in 2001. The company also recently announced that it passed a significant milestone in its hydrogen-powered fuel cell – it has been continuously operating for over 10,000 hours.
FuelCell Energy, Inc. announced plans to construct a 250-kilowatt fuel cell pilot power plant next year at a Mercedes-Benz production facility in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Southern Company, Alabama Municipal Electric Authority, and Mercedes-Benz U.S. International, Inc. are contributing to the project. The company is in final negotiations with U.S.
Department of Energy to develop a hybrid power plant that combines a fuel cell system with a turbine.
Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. and methanol-provider Methanex Corp. are the two newest partners in the cooperative industry effort to commercialize fuel cell-powered electric vehicles, the California Fuel Cell Partnership. Nissan plans to demonstrate its fuel-cell EVs in California in 2001. Some other members of the partnership are: DaimlerChrysler, Ford, Honda Volkswagen, Arco, Shell, Texaco, California Air Resources Board and California Energy Commission.
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