Eco-business / Social Venture

July 30, 2004

 

Tokyo Gas to Develop 'Tri-Generation' System with Hydrogen Production Capability

Keywords: Eco-business / Social Venture Environmental Technology Non-manufacturing industry Renewable Energy 

Tokyo Gas Co., the largest city gas supplier in Japan, announced on May 17, 2004, that they are developing an energy generation system which can simultaneously supply power, heat and hydrogen. This co-generation system incorporates a stationary fuel cell that can produce hydrogen for fuel cell vehicles as well as power and heat for on-site facilities.

Aiming for the most efficient combination of power, heat and hydrogen supply, the system includes a stationary fuel cell unit and a hydrogen purification unit. The project team plans to develop one small-volume and one large-volume generation system. For the large-volume system, they will seek the capacity for supplying enough hydrogen for 12 fuel-cell vehicles per day. The system will also be able to operate as a co-generation system when it is not making hydrogen. This kind of high efficiency is expected to minimize environmental impacts.

The system is also expected to contribute to expansion of hydrogen-supply infrastructure such as hydrogen fuel stations and on-site hydrogen generation systems, and accelerate the introduction of fuel cell vehicles. Tokyo Gas envisions its potential market to be organizations and facilities with constant demand for electricity and heat that are also considering taking the lead in introducing fuel cell vehicles to their fleets. Examples are public facilities operated by municipal governments, bus depots, and waste collection sites. The development of the stationary fuel cell and hydrogen purification units and the accompanying demonstration experiment are expected to be completed in fiscal year 2004, with commercialization achievable by the end of FY 2005.



Posted: 2004/07/30 10:36:16 AM
Japanese version

 

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