Telecom Baseload
Telecom base stations in remote areas have to operate with an unreliable power grid, or even without a grid at all. Currently, off-grid stations are mostly powered by generators, running on diesel or petrol. Most telecom infrastructure companies are looking for alternatives to avoid the high investment, high maintenance and fuel costs. PEM fuel cell systems are the answer.
A baseload system energized with Nedstack PEM fuel cells offers high reliability and the lowest total cost of ownership. It beats generators on a range of measures:
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Nedstack PEM FC
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Diesel Gen-set
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| High reliability and availability |
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Fuel efficiency
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Fuel flexibility&costs*
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Little risk of theft
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Limited space requirements
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| Environmental sustainability |
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| Low initial investment |
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| Low total cost of ownership |
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* Depending on local availability
High reliability and availability
As those operating systems in remote areas will testify, system breakdowns due to power failure pose a large problem. Sometimes, just reaching the location can be a major hassle. PEM fuel cell systems eliminate these troubles. Fuel cell systems are highly reliable. Fuel cells require no maintenance. Nedstack fuel cells can be equipped with a cell voltage monitoring (CVM) system, which allows an operator to remotely check the stack status in detail. Surprises are avoided. In the rare event that a stack needs to be replaced prematurely, the operator will know beforehand. Even the Balance of Plant (BOP) systems need very little maintenance: a physical check twice a year is sufficient. As a result, the fuel storage size determines the frequency of visits.
Currently, over 500 systems based on Nedstack fuel cells are operation world-wide, mainly to provide backup power. Nedstack fuel cell stacks have passed lifetimes of more than 8000 hours in field operation. Currently a number of systems are being built to power telecom base stations and other applications in India and Africa. These systems are based on ammonia reformate or electrolysis. |
Fuel efficiency
Most telecom base stations require between 1 and 15kW power. Most diesel gen-sets run very inefficiently at these loads. Nedstack fuel cells can be configured to operate efficiently between 1 and 10kW. If more power is required, it only requires additional stacks. Compared to conventional gen-sets Nedstack fuel cells have far higher fuel to electricity conversion efficiency requiring less fuel for the same amount of output energy. Higher fuel efficiency means lower fuel costs, and less frequent refuelling visits. |
Fuel flexibility
Using a fuel specific reformer, PEM fuel stack systems can be made to operate on a wide range of fuels. Examples include methanol, ethanol and ammonia. This enables the operator to choose the most cost efficient fuel that is locally available. It is important to realize that some hydrogen carriers, like liquid methanol and ammonia, contain more hydrogen per m3 than liquid hydrogen. |
Little risk of theft
Diesel generators and diesel fuel can be highly sought after commodities in remote areas. Because of the expertise required to operate the systems, fuel cells and their fuel are less likely to be stolen than their traditional counterparts. |
Limited space requirements
PEM fuel cell systems don’t need a lot of space or elaborate housing. They operate both indoors and outdoors in a wide range of climates. They can be made very compact. A system can be placed in a standard 19” rack. It’s the size of the fuel storage tank that decides how much space you will need. |
Environmental sustainability
PEM fuel cells convert hydrogen into energy, with pure water as their only by-product. Depending on the way the hydrogen is produced, our fuel cells have low to zero emission. With the growing awareness of environmental issues, this is an important consideration wherever your operations are located. Additionally, PEM fuel cell systems have no moving parts. They do not cause vibrations or noise pollution. |
Low initial investment
Next to unfamiliarity, there is one other aspect slowing down the uptake of fuel cell systems: they still require a higher initial investment (CapEx) than diesel gen-sets. At Nedstack, we are working hard to further decrease the cost levels. One thing that already helps is that our stacks start at much lower output capacities than diesel gen-sets, preventing over-investment in capacity. Eventually, fuel cell stacks may become economically competitive from the start. |
Low total cost of ownership
Despite their higher CapEx, baseload power systems with Nedstack fuel cell stacks already offer a lower cost of ownership than diesel gen-sets. And isn’t it this total lifetime cost that actually counts? Because of the many advantages mentioned above, the running expenses (OpEx) for PEM fuel cells are low. This results in lower lifetime total costs.
Find out how the total cost of ownership for fuel cells compare to a twin diesel generator over time.
Over a 5-year period or longer, a fuel cell powered backup system is cheaper than a diesel gen-set
A diesel gen-set (blue line) starts off cheaper than a fuel cell powered backup system (red line). However, over time, the total costs for a gen-set are higher. They have far higher operating costs.
Main drivers are high maintenance frequency (at least quarterly) and high fuel consumption, which means higher fuel costs and more regular refuelling visits. Taking these maintenance costs into account, it suddenly becomes clear that the fuel cell system is the more economic option.
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