Portable fuel cells for backup power during natural disasters to power critical infrastructures

Closed

Programme Category

EU Competitive Programmes

Programme Name

Clean Hydrogen JOINT UNDERTAKING (Clean Hydrogen JU)

Programme Description

The Clean Hydrogen Joint Undertaking or Clean Hydrogen Partnership is a unique public-private partnership supporting research and innovation (R&I) activities in hydrogen technologies in Europe. It builds upon the success of its predecessor, the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking.

Programme Details

Identifier Code

HORIZON-JTI-CLEANH2-2024-04-01

Call

Portable fuel cells for backup power during natural disasters to power critical infrastructures

Summary

The topic focuses on the development and demonstration at an operational environment of a lightweight, robust, containerised and modular zero-emission transportable of at least 50 kWe fuel cell system to power critical infrastructures in the event of a natural disaster. The system should include all balance of plant components needed for operation.

Detailed Call Description

The demonstration campaign should include the transportation of the fuel cell system, its installation and test at end-user site for at least 2000 hours of cumulative operation epitomising the real load profiles.

The fuel cell system should:

  • be easily transported, installed and started
  • sustain vibrations and low (-30°C) and high (+50°C) ambient temperature
  • be able to operate with air at low ambient pressure typical for mountain regions and other extreme environmental conditions.
  • be compatible with the specific requirements and norms for transport and operation under relevant harsh environment conditions .

Proposals should address the following:

  • Compact and lightweight containerised contraption including the fuel cell stack and balance of plant components, which can be transported by air, road and sea;
  • Storage of enough fuel to sustain its operations during the emergency state (at least two weeks);
  • Easy refuelling with fast exchange of the fuel storing modules;
  • Simplified plug-and-play approach to minimise the interconnection and installation time;
  • Ability of operation on green hydrogen and at least one other available or easily transportable fuel;
  • Fulfillment of requirements (incl. certification aspects) needed for transport;
  • Modular design with stackable and lifetime prognosis and degradation interoperable 10-50 kWe single modules;
  • Include State of Health analysis at least after operation;
  • Relevance to the respective standards of operation and safety.

Proposals should include the development of a strategy for the installation and operation of singular fuel cell systems in a (micro)grid utilising locally existing power supply units. The fuel cell system should be equipped with effective and highly central infrastructure independent tools for digital communication and localisation. In addition to location monitoring, the monitoring of such parameters as the amount of the fuel in the tank, the potential remaining service time (calculated real-time), and electrical parameters such as power, voltage of the system connection system, and the calculated real-time amount of supplied electricity should be considered.

Call Total Budget

€5.000.000

Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan

Expected EU contribution: €5.000.000

Thematic Categories

  • Environment and Climate Change
  • Research, Technological Development and Innovation

Eligibility for Participation

  • Other Beneficiaries
  • Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions

Eligibility For Participation Notes

The consortium should include fuel cell system providers, partners with expertise on power engineering in distributed grids, standards and requirements needed for shipment for containerised operation-ready solutions and at least one end-user for on-site testing and demonstration performed by a tailored combination of hardware, software and virtual reality tools.

An additional obligation regarding subcontracting has been introduced, namely that subcontracted work may only be performed in target countries set out in the call conditions.

The beneficiaries must ensure that the subcontracted work is performed in the countries set out in the call conditions.

The target countries are all Member States of the European Union and all Associated Countries.

Call Opening Date

18/01/2024

Call Closing Date

17/04/2024

EU Contact Point

Emailinfo@clean-hydrogen.europa.eu

Phone number: +32 22218148

Postal address: Avenue de la Toison d’Or 56-60, 1060 Brussels, Belgium