The US Energy Secretary Steven Chu has announced that $41.9 million in funding from the country’s economic stimulus package is to go towards the development and commercialization of fuel cells.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding will support 13 projects and will accelerate the commercialization and deployment of fuel cells as well as create jobs, said Chu. It will also lead to the immediate deployment of nearly 1000 fuel cell systems for backup power and material handling applications, which have emerged as important early fuel cell markets.
“The investments we’re making today will help us build a robust fuel cell manufacturing industry in the United States,” said Chu. “Developing and deploying the next generation of fuel cells will not only create jobs – it will help our businesses become more energy efficient and productive. We are laying the foundation for a green energy economy.”
The government funding will be matched with $72.4 million in cost-share funding from industry participants. Other applications to benefit from the funding include stationary fuel cells for combined heat and power.
Companies that have won funding include Plug Power, which will demonstrate and validate the durability of its 5 kW stationary combined heat and power fuel cell system. The company has also won funding to demonstrate the market viability of its GenCore rack-mounted fuel cell product that is designed to provide emergency backup power.
A secondary impact of the funding will be to increase manufacturing volumes, which will in turn help to bring down the costs of the technology.
