US Department Of Defense Catches Green Hydrogen Fever – CleanTechnica

Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!

---

The US Department of the Defense pushed the market for solar power during the Obama administration, emerging as a powerhouse early adopter and large-scale buyer of photovoltaic technology. Now the Pentagon is getting ready to pivot into the hydrogen fuel cell microgrid field. Whether or not they can do for the sparkling green hydrogen economy of the future what they did for the US solar industry remains to be seen, but it’s a start.

Green Hydrogen For The US Department of Defense

The latest news about the Defense Department’s green hydrogen vision involves the UK fuel cell firm Intelligent Energy, aka IE. On May 7, IE announced that it is providing 600 kilowatts’ worth of hydrogen PEM fuel cells for a new microgrid project at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, located in Honolulu, Hawaii.

PEM is short for the polymer electrolyte membrane technology in common use today, or proton exchange membrane as some call it.

With a membrane acting as the electrolyte, PEM fuel cells produce electricity through a chemical reaction between hydrogen from the anode and ambient air from the cathode, shepherded by a catalyst. Unlike batteries that need to be recharged, fuel cells can discharge electricity for as along as the fuel is available.

In terms of deploying fuel cells to improve military security and resiliency, hydrogen fuel is a problem to be solved. The primary source of hydrogen today is natural gas, with coal also contributing a measure. That puts military facilities with fuel cells in the same fossil fuel-dependent hole that the Pentagon has been trying to break free of.

However, the hydrogen supply chain is beginning to pivot into renewable resources. One particular area of activity is electrolysis technology — basically, a fuel cell in reverse — which pushes hydrogen gas from water with an assist from a membrane, a catalyst, and electricity. Costs still need to come down, but the US Department of Energy is among those who see a competitive price for green hydrogen against natural gas in the foreseeable future.

Connecting the dots, the US military already has a stockpile of solar arrays that could be put into service to supply the electricity for green hydrogen electrolysis systems, and that is the plan for Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickham.

A Green Hydrogen Microgrid For The DOD

In 2017 the US Air Force Research Laboratory partnered with the Hawaii Center for Advanced Transportation to launch a renewable energy microgrid project under the acronym PEARL, for Pacific Energy Assurance and Resiliency Laboratory.

As part of PEARL, the new fuel cell project leverages an existing 1.5-megawatt solar array at JBPHH.

IE is contributing its fuel cells to its US partner, the North Dakota firm BWR Innovations, which is tasked with delivering the complete package including a 1-megawatt electrolyzer, a compressor, and 600 kilograms’ worth of hydrogen storage capacity. BWR is also tasked with integrating the fuel cell system into the existing PEARL renewable energy microgrid.

“The primary objective of the project is to promote operational energy resilience by demonstrating the feasibility and performance of solar-hydrogen storage in support of island-able microgrids,” IE explained in a press statement dated May 7. The firm emphasized “island-able” to reinforce the importance of having a reliable source of energy on site.

Many Hands Helping Green Hydrogen Along

BWR got ahead of the green hydrogen microgrid news on April 29, when it let word slip about a two-year subcontract from the technology systems firm Global Connective Center, under an agreement with the Air Force lab.

“The project is intended to advance the understanding of operational H2 energy and provide a model to replicate microgrids for the Department of Defense (DoD),” BWR explained.

BWR’s press release adds some additional details to the IE news, including the production of green hydrogen in liquid form in addition to the more familiar form of compressed gas.

BWR also takes note of additional stakeholders, including a partnership with the firm Pneumatic Hydraulics to manufacture the electrolyzer and storage systems.

That’s just the tip of the partnership iceberg. Among other stakeholders, BWR lists the Indo-Pacific Command, the National Guard Bureau, the Hawaii Air National Guard, and the Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command. The Hawaii Center for Advanced Transportation Technologies, NEOEx Systems, SAGE Pacific, Moran Innovation, and Ohio State University also make BWR’s list of supporters.

Today JBPHH, Tomorrow The World

If you caught that thing about “model to replicate microgrids for the Department of Defense,” that should give a fresh round of nightmares to natural gas stakeholders. The purchasing power of the US military helped to keep the US solar industry afloat in the early years, when renewable energy were high relative to fossil fuels. By 2022 the script was flipped, with renewable energy beating fossil fuels on a global basis.

Now the Defense Department is training its supply chain sights on green hydrogen, and they are not messing around. Neither is BWR.

“Key deliverables for the project include hydrogen safety protocols and operating procedures, a techno-economic analysis (TEA), and business models for cost-effective and sustainable operation,” BWR notes.

The company also describes the JBPHH project, which it calls H2MG, as just the starting point. “H2MG offers significant transition opportunities, scaling from the initial PEARL H2 Microgrid proof of concept to strategic locations worldwide that promote regional stability and energy security,” BWR states.

Interesting! Back in March, BloombergNEF ran the numbers and concluded that way too many electrolyzer manufacturers are jumping headlong into the green hydrogen market. BNEF anticipates that demand is not going to match the pace, leading to a painful industry shakeout.

That may be so, but a sharp uptick in demand for green hydrogen from the US Defense Department and other military buyers could help stem some of the damage.

What About The Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles?

Yes, what about them. Both IE and BWR mention that the JBPHH microgrid project includes an investigation of mobile applications for fuel cells.

“The project will demonstrate an initial proof of concept (known as PEARL H2) for DoD microgrids using hydrogen off-take for fuel cell production and sustainable installation energy, exploring transportable capability to support military operations,” BWR added.

IE also notes that its IE-DRIVE^TM HD100 fuel cell system is intended for both stationary and motive applications. Don’t hold your breath for that fuel cell electric passenger car, though. IE is aiming for buses, trucks, and other heavy-duty applications.

On the other hand, we hear that Stellantis is planning to drop a fuel cell electric pickup truck on the US and EU markets, so stay tuned for news about other activity in the fuel cell electric vehicle space.

Photo (cropped): This 134-kilowatt solar array at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, is part of the PEARL renewable energy microgrid demonstration project (US Air Force, courtesy of HNU Energy/Joseph Cannon).