Department Of Energy Announces $2.5 Million To Fund Fuel Cell Electric GSE Projects
EDITOR'S NOTE: We've since found out more information on the funding:
Open Date: 04/25/2012
Close Date: 06/11/2012
Funding Organization: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Funding Number: DE-FOA-0000701
Summary:
With this FOA, DOE's Fuel Cell Technologies Program seeks applications for projects to demonstrate and deploy fuel cell hybrid ground support equipment (GSE) vehicles at airport and/or air freight distribution center sites. Packaged solutions for polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell systems (5 to 20 kW) fueled by hydrogen with the ability to power a baggage tow tractor with 3,000 to 6,000 pounds (1,362 to 2,722 kg) towing capability for a minimum of 10 hours of continuous operation and 5000 total hours are sought.
Applications must focus on developing, deploying, and validating systems in the field under real world operating conditions. The target market is commercial airports and air freight distribution centers used by passenger airlines and air freight industries. Approximately $2,500,000 in FY 2012 DOE funding is expected to be available for new awards under this announcement. DOE anticipates making 1-3 awards under this announcement depending on the size of the awards.
For more information, see the full solicitation.
The following information was released by the U.S. Department of Energy:
As part of President Obama's all-of-the-above energy strategy to reduce America's reliance on foreign oil, the Energy Department today announced up to $2.5 million available this year to demonstrate and deploy fuel cell electric vehicles for transporting passenger baggage at major U.S. airports. The projects selected for funding will demonstrate first-generation, fuel cell powered baggage towing tractors under real-world operating conditions, and collect and analyze data to test their performance and cost-effectiveness. This funding, part of the Department's commitment to U.S. leadership in advanced fuel cell research and development, will help industry bring advanced fuel cell technologies into emerging markets and provide airlines and airports with new choices for ground support operations that cut energy costs, air pollution, and petroleum use.
Although the majority of DOE fuel cell funding is for research and development, the Department has previously supported other early market applications, such as fuel cell forklifts and back-up power for telecommunications. After DOE catalyzed these early fuel cell applications, private financing has been used to deploy thousands of forklifts and back-up power devices. In addition, support for these early markets provides near-term manufacturing opportunities and experience that can be leveraged to inform more mainstream applications, such as light-duty vehicles, which can significantly reduce petroleum use.
The Department seeks applicants to demonstrate and test the performance and economic viability of advanced fuel cell systems for up to three years. The 50% cost-shared projects will supply information on fuel cell system operation and data on the economics of these vehicles to the Hydrogen Secure Data Center at the Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) for analysis and comparison. Data will be collected from actual airport operations so that engineers and economic analysts can assess the technology's performance, durability, and cost-effectiveness under the real-world conditions of commercial airports. Conclusions will be drawn from the data to evaluate the commercial viability of this fuel cell application, and the data will be shared with fuel cell manufacturers, helping to improve their designs and optimize overall performance and costs.
The Department plans to select up to three projects, which will leverage more than $2.5 million in additional funding from private and other sources. For more information, including application requirements and instructions, please visit the Funding Opportunity Exchange website.
Copyright 2012 States News Service
