Hydrogenics Corp. (Mississauga, ON) announced the signing of a contract with the US Army to design, manufacture and commission a self-contained regenerative fuel cell generator system for auxiliary power deployment on army vehicle platforms. Radian Inc. (Alexandria, VA) is the US military's contractor through which all transactions for the project will be executed.
This initiative with the US Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command (Warren, MI) is in response to the military's desire to explore alternative power sources to meet the increasing demands for electrical power related to digital equipment and extended silent-watch requirements. In this application, the regeneration mode of the system will recharge the hydrogen supply while the vehicle engine is operating, supplying the hydrogen storage subsystem with sufficient fuel to operate the fuel cell auxiliary power system for up to 10 hours at the field destination with a load of 3kW average, and peak demand of 5kW. The project, spanning a period of one year, includes a joint evaluation of the system on three different vehicle platforms to assess performance, full-cycle characteristics, costs and feasibilities.
"We believe this contract provides Hydrogenics with an opportunity to take HyPORT technology to a new level," said Pierre Rivard, president and CEO of Hydrogenics. "This application of Hydrogenics' fuel cell technology has the potential to demonstrate valuable benefits and capabilities to an organization that relies on the best-available technology for mission-critical situations. We are confident that our technology will demonstrate its strengths in a compelling manner."
