New Energies, new possibilities

ブラザー工業は2020年7月6日、瑞穂工場（名古屋市）の敷地に自社開発の燃料電池「BFC4-5000-DC380V」を設置し、稼働を開始したと発表した。電気とともに発生した熱を、食堂やオフィスなどが入る第14工場に供給する。

設置した燃料電池システム（クリックで拡大） 出典：ブラザー工業

　出力4.4kWのBFC4-5000-DCは、2018年に販売を開始。水素と空気中の酸素を反応させて電気を生み出し、水だけを排出する。環境に配慮したシステムとなっており、高い安全性と安定性を備え、IoT（モノのインターネット）にも対応する。

燃料電池システムの仕組み（クリックで拡大） 出典：ブラザー工業

　現在は非常用電源として活用されているが、電気の他に熱も生み出すことから、将来的にはコージェネレーションシステムとしての利用が想定される。今回の設置はそうした用途拡大に向け、自社内で発電、発熱状況のデータを取得することを目的とする。システムの稼働により4.4kWの電気に加え、4.5kW相当の熱も発生させ、1日8時間の稼働で最大70kWhのエネルギーを供給する。

第14工場（クリックで拡大） 出典：ブラザー工業

https://monoist.atmarkit.co.jp/mn/articles/2008/04/news018.html

「道の駅なみえ」に納入した3.5kW「H2Rex™」（出所：東芝エネルギーシステムズ）

東芝エネルギーシステムズ（神奈川県川崎市）は8月3日、福島県浪江町の「道の駅なみえ」に、水素を直接用いて発電し、発生する熱も有効活用する純水素燃料電池システム「H2Rex TM」を納入したと発表した。10月頃に稼働する予定。

「道の駅なみえ」は一部施設が8月1日にオープンした。7月に本格稼働した世界最大級の水素製造装置を備えた「福島水素エネルギー研究フィールド（FH2R）」から車で10分弱の場所にある。同システムで使う水素は、FH2Rで製造され、カードルに充填し運搬される。

https://www.kankyo-business.jp/news/025726.php

LATHAM, N.Y. - August 3, 2020 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Fuel Cell Stock News Bites - Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG), a leading provider of zero emission hydrogen engines and fueling solutions enabling e-mobility, is providing UK-based supermarket Asda with hydrogen fuel cell solutions to power the lift truck fleet within the retail giant's extensive supply chain network.

Asda's partnership with Plug Power includes a purchase order agreement for Plug Power's full-service GenKey solution, beginning at the UK facility in Skelmersdale. The turnkey solution includes fuel cells, hydrogen fueling equipment, hydrogen and service. This new customer continues Plug Power's growth in Europe and represents the first deployment at scale of hydrogen fuel cell technology for material handling within the United Kingdom. The effort reduces Asda's reliance on traditional lead acid batteries for power in their material handling fleet and is part of a broader initiative designed to make the company's operations more environmentally-friendly.

"Each new opportunity to expand the adoption of hydrogen fuel cells is an important step to building the hydrogen economy," said Andy Marsh, CEO of Plug Power. "We're especially excited to be partnering with an organization like Asda, which has such a proud heritage and sterling reputation. Their focus on making their organization more environmentally-friendly makes Asda an ideal partner, and we're optimistic that this deployment is just the start of a long and fruitful relationship."

Founded in 1949, Asda currently ranks as the UK's third-largest supermarket retailer with a market share of over 15 percent, and annual revenues of more than £20 billion. Asda is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the multinational retailer Walmart Inc., which itself is a longtime Plug Power customer and a global leader in fuel cell adoption and commercialization in the supply chain and logistics market. Like its parent company, Asda maintains sole control over the entirety of its logistics network, which includes more than 30 distribution centers staffed by more than 12,000 employees across the UK. Part of Walmart, Asda is committed to meeting its target to remove 1 billion tonnes of emissions globally as part of Project Gigaton with 179 Asda suppliers having already signed up to this commitment, saving a significant 29 Million Metric Tonnes of emissions."

Asda is dedicated to being the world's Most Trusted Retailer, and sustainability is a big part of that," said Darren Pettener, General Manager of the Asda Skelmersdale Distribution Center. "We've seen firsthand what a difference hydrogen fuel cell adoption has made for our parent company. There are good reasons why Walmart, which has been a leader in supply chain innovation for decades, has chosen to build the largest fleet of hydrogen fuel cell-powered electric vehicles in the world. We're eager to realize the proven environmental and productivity benefits of fuel cell adoption in our operations at Asda

."Plug Power's GenKey solution brings multiple benefits to Asda's supply chain network. Fuel cell powered logistics equipment enables distribution centers to achieve substantial productivity gains and higher material velocity by eliminating the downtime required for battery charging and changing. In addition, the fuel cell solution frees up valuable floor space by removing the need for multiple batteries per truck, and replacing bulky battery charging and changing stations with a compact hydrogen fuel dispenser. The full-service GenKey package allows customers to quickly capture all of these benefits, providing full integration and deployment of the Plug Power's fuel cell engines, hydrogen fuel solutions, and support.

Read the company's full news and disclaimer here:

https://www.ir.plugpower.com/Press-Releases/Press-Release-Details/2020/Plug-Power-Brings-Hydrogen-Fuel-Cells-to-Leading-UK-Supermarket-Retailer-Asda/default.aspx

Research more fuel cell stocks - Fuel Cell Stocks Directory at Investorideas.com

https://www.investorideas.com/FCCN/Stock_List.asp

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https://www.investorideas.com/news/2020/fuel-cell/08032StockBites-PLUG.asp

August 3, 2020 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) and battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are considered by the most, as two competing technologies. Although both technologies power an electric motor, they have different properties and each of them is well suited for some uses more than others.

BEVs market is increasing, with the major automotive companies, like BMW, and Mercedes, starting to introduce into the market an increasing number of electric battery vehicles, in parallel to the main BEVs company like Tesla, and Toyota. FCEVs on the other hand are still at the demonstration stage.

In April 2019 Daimler stepped back from the development of the GLC F-Cell, after many years of investigation of fuel cells technologies. Besides this decision, Daimler did not completely abandon the hydrogen powertrain, but mostly shifted its focus to a different application. In fact, a collaboration with Volvo to develop fuel cell heavy-duty vehicles will possibly begin in September 2020, which will define a new chapter for the hydrogen technologies.

Although the FCEVs have not reached large scale production, the long-term plan adopted by several countries is to implement the adoption of FCEVs among other applications. The idea is to develop a hydrogen network, which aims the adoption of hydrogen as an energy carrier in different sectors. In other words, the development of the so-called hydrogen economy.

As analyzed in the new IDTechEx report, "The Hydrogen Economy, Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Production Methods", many countries are already involved in the development of a hydrogen economy. The necessity of the hydrogen economy is driven by the requirement of reducing pollutant emissions while achieving a higher energy independence. Within the different sectors addressed by hydrogen economies, the automotive sector is one of the first to be developed. Countries like Germany and Japan have already installed a considerable number of hydrogen refueling stations (HRS), besides promoting the adoption of hydrogen technologies.

Read more about production development at Semcon.

The main reason behind this choice is to reduce the cost of hydrogen. A large-scale adoption of FCEVs, and hydrogen, would facilitate the adoption of hydrogen and related applications.

As explained in the hydrogen economy report released by IDTechEx, many countries are involved in this process and is likely that others will join to boost the adoption of green resources and fulfilling the Paris Agreement adopted by several nations.

https://www.investorideas.com/news/2020/fuel-cell/08031Electric-Vehicles.asp

Plug soars on a deal in the U.K., and other fuel cell stocks come along for the ride.

What happened

Shares of alternative energy providers -- fuel cell stocks including Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG), FuelCell Energy (NASDAQ:FCEL), and Bloom Energy (NYSE:BE) -- exploded higher to start out the week on Monday. As of 11:45 a.m. EDT, Plug stock is up 14.7%, its much smaller rival FuelCell is up 11.4%, and Bloom Energy has gained 6.7%.

All three stocks may have Plug to thank for their success today.

So what

On an otherwise slow news day for fuel cell stocks, Plug Power shook up the market with an announcement that U.K.-based supermarket chain Asda will be buying a "turnkey solution" for its warehouse forklift fleet, including "fuel cells, hydrogen fueling equipment, hydrogen and service" from Plug. The company notes that Asda is a new customer for Plug, and that this deal "represents the first deployment at scale of hydrogen fuel cell technology for material handling within the United Kingdom."

Investors appear to be hoping that "first" implies "first of many," and that if the popularity of hydrogen fuel cell technology takes off in the U.K., this may work to the benefit of Plug's competitors -- FuelCell and Bloom -- as well. Reinforcing that belief, Asda reminded that its parent company Walmart "has chosen to build the largest fleet of hydrogen fuel cell-powered electric vehicles in the world" -- the implication being that where Walmart leads, others may follow.

Now what

Asda is the U.K.'s third-largest supermarket chain, so today's announcement is kind of a big deal for Plug. That said, the company did not state quite how big of a deal it is, in terms of either revenue or profitability.

We'll get our next glance at those kinds of numbers when Plug reports its second-quarter 2020 financial results, due out before the market opens on Thursday, Aug. 6.

For the record, analysts currently forecast that Plug will report a $0.10 per share loss (25% worse than last year) on sales of $59.5 million -- up 4% year over year.

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