New Energies, new possibilities

DOE awards Cummins $7M for work on H2 fuel cell viability in transportation sector

On-site power giant Cummins received two federal awards totaling nearly $7 million for its research into the viability of hydrogen fuel-cell powertrain solutions.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy tabbed Cummins to help lead projects in the DOE’s H2@Scale initiative to develop affordable hydrogen production, storage, distribution and use. The company’s work with public and private partners focused on fuel-cell powertrains for heavy-study applications including on-highway tractor-trailers and buses.

“Programs like “H2@Scale” are essential to gain the scale and investment needed that will lead to faster adoption of hydrogen fuel cell technologies,” said Amy Davis, President New Power, Cummins Inc. “The work we are doing with the DOE and our partners will help improve cost and operational performance of hydrogen fuel cell technologies to achieve greater parity with other available power solutions. We are looking forward to moving this technology forward and bringing additional hydrogen products to our customers.”

The first award for approximately $3.5 million is for the development of an integrated fuel cell electric powertrain for heavy-duty trucks and transit buses with operational performance and total cost of ownership that supports near-term, rapid, and substantial penetration of the truck and bus market. This includes development of a solution that is highly manufacturable and scalable with a proven range of 300 miles or more and improved fuel economy over current heavy-duty trucks and transit buses.

Other objectives include achieving, meeting or exceeding conventional diesel powertrain performance requirements and reducing the upfront capital costs by 35 percent to make the adoption of zero-emission fuel cell technologies viable for commercial fleets.

See more PE’s coverage on hydrogen!

The second award for $3 million is to develop and validate a high pressure, modular, 100 kW proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell stack and system to power heavy-duty applications. The objective is to optimize the fuel cell stack for efficiency, power density, space and cost for operation at or above 100°C that can achieve a minimum operating time of 25,000 hours and achieve $80/kW in volume production, which is necessary to make the stacks economically viable in the U.S. The fuel cell stack components will be developed and prototyped in the U.S. to encourage continued investment in this technology and increase scalability.

Cummins’ New Power segment, which combines the company’s investments in electrified powertrains, fuel cells and hydrogen production technology, completed its first full year in 2019. Last year, Cummins acquired Canada-based Hydrogenics Corp., which provides fuel cell and hydrogen production technologies, for about $290 million.

Indiana-based Cummins is one of several traditional gas or diesel-fueled generation firms globally increasing their stake in a potential hydrogen future. The gas must be created from the electrolysis process, but hydrogen does not emit carbon dioxide when burnt, unlike coal or natural gas.

Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, MAN Energy Solutions and Siemens are among those firms working on hydrogen powered solutions at both utility and distribution scale.

https://fuelcellsworks.com/news/cummins-adds-to-its-fuel-cell-leadership-receives-two-us-department-of-energy-awards-for-hydrogen-fuel-cell-powertrains/