Telecommunication and utility uses of Hydrogen Fuel Cells

One of the largest constraints for telecommunication companies is to maintain a reliable system in extreme situations such as when power outages occur. Currently batteries and Diesel Generators are the preferred choice of Back Up power systems in telephone exchanges. The problem is batteries can seem okay until a load is placed on them (ie. Power outages occur and the batteries are required to power up the exchange) at which stage the exchange will not have sufficient power.

Another issue with batteries is once the power is consumed and mains power is off line for extended periods, then the exchange will inevitably shut down until such a time as power is restored to the site and the batteries are recharged. Diesel Generators which are noisy, require constant running and maintenance to ensure reliability adding to the cost of ownership.

SEFCA ability to convert existing installation to Hydrogen Fuel Cells while reducing the cost of ownership make Fuel Cells an advantageous choice.

The key advantages of the fuel cells over traditional power solutions are:

• Hydrogen fuel cells have a 99.999 reliability rating and do not need to be continuously tested
• Hydrogen fuel cells can be remotely monitored to show performance and fuel levels
• Hydrogen fuel cells take up a very small foot print so can free up considerable data centre space when compared to batteries
• Hydrogen fuel cells run off Hydrogen bottles that can be continuously replaced to provide virtually limitless back up.
• Hydrogen fuel cells can last for 25 years (based on an average 200 hours of power outage a year)
• Hydrogen fuel cells run relatively quieter than Diesel Generators. There is no need to store or bring in Diesel onto the site.
• Through our association with Energy Response, SEFCA is able to change back up batteries from a cost centre to a revenue centre

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Utilities and Peak shaving with Hydrogen Fuel Cells

With the increase in Australia’s population and increased take up of high power consumption consumer appliances ( eg. Air Conditioners), the power infrastructure encounters times when the load demand exceeds the grid capabilities. Upgrading the power infrastructure to the tune of $M’s does not make sense to cope with high demands for short period of time (generally 6 -10 times a year during early afternoon periods in the summer months) Hydrogen Fuel Cells are strategically placed to provide power to many small installations, which when utilized, relieve the grid enough to reduce overloading. As the fuel cell can be controlled remotely and with our relationship with Energy Response, SEFCA can fit a Peak Shaving Fuel Cell that is not only efficient but environmentally friendly.

Hydrogen fuel cells can also be used as Back Up power to restart control equipment or for Emergency Power requirements.

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