New Energies, new possibilities

Caterpillar, in collaboration with Microsoft and Ballard Power Systems, has been recognized for its work in datacenter hydrogen fuel cell technology, winning the ‘Systems Development and Integration’ award at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DoE) 2024 Hydrogen Program Merit Review Awards.

The Ballard Power Systems-supported project has successfully demonstrated its megawatt-scale fuel cell platform at Microsoft’s Cheyenne, Wyoming, datacenter. The 1.5MW fuel cell and battery microgrid solution successfully demonstrated increased resiliency and lower carbon intensity, providing applicability beyond standby, over a simulated 48-hour outage.

The industry acknowledgement arrives as the datacenter sector faces mounting pressure to address its soaring energy needs with sustainable solutions. Hydrogen fuel cells can help meet reliability and environmental goals, especially as backup power.

Experts from Caterpillar’s Electric Power team led the project, providing system integration, power electronics, and microgrid controls, with support from Ballard – who delivered the 1.5MW fuel cell platform.

Test cycles ranged from basic software communication checks to demonstrating a 48-hour datacenter backup operation cycle, as well as quality performance, and durability and reliability tests over a 150-hour timeframe.

The final six months of the demonstration project involved system installation, plant commissioning and debugging. This was followed by a two-month demonstration during which real-life data was collected. Despite the apparent short run-time, the demonstration is equivalent to up to 15 years of performance for a diesel genset at a datacenter.

"The demonstration project is a significant milestone in providing large datacenters with reliable and sustainable back-up power with hydrogen technology. As critical infrastructure operations shift from on-premises physical servers to multi-cloud environments, it is more important than ever to ensure datacenters are securely supported and connected across multiple platforms to deliver uninterruptible power supply."

 

Neal Fink Program Manager, Ballard

The project underscores the rising demand for sustainable solutions for data centers. The partnership's demonstration provides valuable insights into fuel cell system capacity and capability to support multi-megawatt datacenters, ensuring uninterrupted power supply to meet 99.99% uptime requirements - leveraging the most innovative digital infrastructure effectively, efficiently, and at scale.

Data Center Partnership Earns Top DOE Award

• Proton Motor Power Systems plc, known for its zero-carbon fuel cells and hybrid systems, is making significant changes to its operational structure to drastically cut costs.
• The company is considering delisting from the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) as part of its strategic financial overhaul.

Proton Motor Power Systems plc (AIM: PPS), a prominent player in the design, development, and production of fuel cells and hybrid systems with zero-carbon emissions, has released an update regarding its financial and operational strategy. Following a previous announcement on November 20, 2024, the company’s board is now evaluating the feasibility of continuing operations under a significantly reduced cost structure. This restructuring would involve settling with outstanding creditors, except for those under its existing debt facilities, and reducing ongoing contractual commitments.

Given these changes, the board is also moving forward with plans to remove the company’s shares from trading on AIM. They have concluded that maintaining the listing would not be feasible under the proposed reduced cost operations. Details of this delisting will be discussed in a forthcoming circular expected early in the next year.

Despite these challenging adjustments, Proton Motor Power maintains that it has adequate cash reserves to operate solvently in the near term. This stability is supported by the funds from its debt facilities, operational income, and an anticipated R&D tax credit, expected early in 2025. The company promises to keep its stakeholders informed as it navigates through these transitions, ensuring transparency and diligence in its efforts to sustain its innovative work within the fuel cell technology sector.