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Russ Keller: Hydrogen Fuel Cell Lift Trucks Demonstration Project --Implementation in South Carolina

Submitted by: John Warner on Jul 11, 2007 at 10:07 pm Tagged with: Featured Articles, Next Energy Source:

By Russ Keller, Senior Director, Alternative Energy Programs, SCRA

On Monday, July 9, LiftOne and Engineered Solutions, divisions of Carolina Tractor and Equipment, unveiled two hydrogen powered fuel cell lift trucks at their facility in Columbia, SC. The lift trucks have been equipped with HyPX Fuel Cell Power Packs, manufactured by Hydrogenics of Toronto, Canada, and installed by LiftOne in electric lift trucks manufactured by Linde Materials Handling of Summerville, SC. Both units will commence a demonstration deployment this week at Michelin’s Columbia plant, the first of six two-week evaluations that will take place between now and December at various warehouse facilities in the greater Columbia area and beyond. Follow-on deployment sites will include Leigh Fibers (Spartanburg), ISOLA Laminates (Ridgeway), and PBR (West Columbia).

The Hydrogenics-LiftOne project is the most ambitious initiative to date funded under the sponsorship of the Greater Columbia Fuel Cell Challenge. The Challenge is a collaborative effort between the City of Columbia, the University of South Carolina, EngenuitySC and SCRA, whose collective mission is to accelerate the deployment and adoption of a wide array of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies within the Midlands region of South Carolina. Launched in the summer of 2006, the Challenge has awarded 10 projects to date. SC Launch! has provided more than $200,000 in total funding support across seven of these 10 projects.

Numerous government and industry studies have identified the material handling industry as an ideal candidate for introducing fuel cell technologies as a near-term market opportunity. Applications that target indoor, multiple shifts-per-day operations of 50 or more lift trucks offer the customer the option of replacing multiple lead acid batteries, battery chargers, battery watering equipment and battery storage facilities with fuel cell power packs and hydrogen fueling infrastructure. LiftOne estimates its customers who fit this profile could save between 15% and 20% by shifting from battery technology to fuel cell technology, and hopes the demonstration project deployments will provide data to validate these estimates. The value proposition is achieved through increased worker productivity (less down time attributable to battery change-out and charging operations) and greater utilization of existing warehouse space (no requirement for dedicated battery charging rooms).

In addition to being zero-emission, a fuel cell power solution also provides continuous full power for the entire duration of a shift (as opposed to battery-powered trucks, which experience speed and performance droop near the end of a battery charge-discharge cycle). As the price point of this initial niche market improves, other segments of the material handling market can be penetrated, including the larger outdoor market where the existing technology solutions rely on petroleum-fueled vehicles.

For perspective, within the state of South Carolina alone the class 1 lift truck market is 6670 units. There are another 12,000 electric drive units of different configurations that could be future candidates for fuel cell technology. Even if only 10% of the total South Carolina class 1 lift truck market were converted to fuel cell technology this would represent a $26.6 million market share.

In April of 2007, the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) released a Request for Information in which it solicited ideas for how the department could accelerate early hydrogen and fuel cell markets. One of the initiatives under consideration is a “buy down” program that would provide financial assistance to early adopters of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in selected markets. DoE officials believe that a combination of increased sales volume, federal/state tax credits and selective equipment buy-down funding could make the fuel cell fork lift market economically cost competitive in the near term. DoE expects to issue its funding opportunity announcement in the fall of 2007. By this time most of the South Carolina-based participants in the Hydrogenics-LiftOne project will have had first-hand experience with this technology and, depending on the specific markets targeted by DoE, could be well-positioned to become national leaders in capitalizing on the benefits of this emerging market segment.

Related Feature Article: David Bode: The Hydrogen Economy - Hype or Holy Grail

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