Ballard to provide 1MW fuel cell system to Toyota for California campus

Ballard Power Systems will deploy a one-megawatt fuel cell generator that will provide peak electrical power and heat at the Toyota Motor Sales USA, Inc. (TMS) sales and marketing headquarters campus in Torrance, California.

The CLEARgen fuel cell system will utilize hydrogen produced by steam-reformation of renewable bio-gas generated at a landfill. Deployment of the CLEARgen system will enable Toyota to satisfy peak and mid-peak power needs using electricity from either the fuel cell system or from the power grid.

CLEARgen will be used to provide power to a number of locations on the multi-building campus, including Toyota and Lexus headquarter buildings, data center operations building and employee fitness centre. It is estimated that the system will facilitate reduced consumption of peak grid power and avoidance of up to 10,000 tons of CO₂ emissions annually.

The TMS headquarters campus houses 5,000 associates over 125 acres. The ability to offset peak electricity usage with an emission-free fuel cell system will create significant savings, while reducing our environmental footprint.

—Mark Yamauchi, TMS Facilities Operations Manager

Heat created by the fuel cell system will also be utilized to provide hot water and space heating in the Toyota employee activity center and in the Lexus headquarter building within the office campus. Use of this heat will offset natural gas consumption on campus, thereby avoiding as much as a further 28 tons of CO₂ emissions annually.

The system is expected to be commissioned in 2012. Project funding is being provided through California’s Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP). A stationary fuel cell power generation platform currently under development at Ballard and financially supported by Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), an arm’s-length, not-for-profit corporation created by the Government of Canada, will be used in the TMS campus system.

Source: Green Car Congress