Express-News: David Hendricks

Hendricks: Fuel cell has potential to put clean power where it's needed

San Antonio Express-News

Web Posted : 07/26/2001

The fuel cell era has not yet dawned in San Antonio, but it is just about to pop over the horizon.

An application for a federal grant that would place fuel cells at homes at Brooks City-Base Project is pending. Bandera Electric Cooperative plans to acquire one in about six months for use on a remote site.

And a fuel cell pioneer in San Antonio is sketching schemes for integrating fuel cells into power utility systems, which may erase the need for power plant construction.

The Brooks City-Base Project application is pending at the U.S. Army Construction Research Laboratory, part of the Army Corps of Engineers.

The main applicant is Valencia, Calif.-based DCH Technology, which would provide three natural gas-powered proton exchange membrane fuel cells with a three-kilowatt capacity. It would be enough to power a small household.

The supporting applicants are Southwest Research Institute, which conducts fuel cell research, City Public Service and St. Philip's College, which may use the fuel cells for training if it begins an energy curriculum as proposed.

DCH Vice President Katie Schmitz de Fernandez in Houston said she expects a decision on the application by fall. If approved, the fuel cells would be deployed a year later for one year's use.

Meanwhile, Bandera Electric Cooperative will buy a propane-powered fuel cell costing about $8,000 in about six months. The electric co-op, owned by its Bandera-area customers, is eligible for the purchase as a member of Energy Co-Opportunity, an organization working with a fuel cell company called H Power in the development of fuel cells for rural residences.

The unit will be a combination of a five-kilowatt PEM fuel cell and a seven-kilowatt battery backup. Energy Co-Opportunity, based in Herndon, Va., is testing the model in sites outside of Texas.

The goal, said Bobby Waid, Bandera Electric administrative assistant, is to power an application, such as a cell phone tower or a water well, on-site with the fuel cell rather than extending lines to the site, which could cost $12,000 to $15,000.

Bandera Electric does not plan to sell fuel cells to individuals and companies. Instead, it will integrate fuel cells into its power supply mix and charge customers its normal rate.

The San Antonio fuel cell pioneer is William Montjoye of ADM Technology Inc., a company that advises its clients, such as new housing and commercial developments, on fuel cell use. Montjoye worked for NASA, helping develop fuel cells for the space shuttle.

Montjoye believes fuel cells can solve the problems utilities face in acquiring rights of way for trunk transmission lines and in overcoming objections of neighboring property owners when it comes to new power plants and substations.

Utilities can cluster fuel cells in substations to handle growth that will be developing on the outskirts of their service areas. The utilities gradually will convert conventional substations to fuel cell substations.

Thus, the production of electricity is decentralized and becomes more efficient and reliable. This will reduce the amount of electricity lost in transmission because the power source will be nearer to the customers.

This pattern is known in the industry as distributed generation, and it may be the only way utilities can survive. It is, essentially, what Bandera Electric is doing. So, it is a good sign that CPS is helping with the Brooks City-Base Project application.

Fuel cell costs will decrease with time, making this approach feasible, Montjoye said.

This is the future. Fuel cells require less fuel. They convert any hydrogen-based fuel, including gasoline and methane that may be recovered from landfills, and produce electricity in a chemical process that results in electricity and pure water. There are virtually no emissions, enhancing urban air quality.

Texas is the perfect state for fuel cells to enjoy early use, Montjoye said. California needed them last year, but fuel cells are two years away from helping that electricity-short state, he said.

"But Texas has the luxury of not needing it right now," and can do it right on a gradual basis, Montjoye observed.

Imagine. No additional polluting power plants. No more nuclear plants. Fewer giant transmission towers and lines. The quicker San Antonio plugs into this, the more it will participate in the coming fuel cell economy.

dhendricks@express-news.net

-- Anonymous, July 28, 2001