Hydrogen fuel cells to be deployed at ‘clean coal’ power station

Louise Bateman
4th October 2010
A demonstration coal-fired power station equipped with carbon capture and storage (CCS) is to deploy hydrogen-powered fuel cell technology as part of its low carbon energy generation mix, potentially paving the way for low cost fuel cell power stations across the UK.
Alkaline fuel cells will be deployed within the next five years at the 900 megawatt (MW) CCS demonstration site at Hatfield, near Doncaster, with the capacity to generate 300 MW of electricity, it was announced today. The pioneering move follows an agreement between Powerfuel Power Ltd, the company developing the Hatfield CCS plant, AFC Energy, developer of alkaline fuel cells, and B9 Coal, which has exclusive rights to AFC’s clean energy technology for above ground and underground gas and coal application. The partners said the agreement would see them develop fuel cell power stations in the UK and other territories around the world in the future.

Alisa Murphy, director at B9 Coal, told GreenWise the end product would be large scale "low cost, low carbon electricity". The Hatfield site is expected to generate enough electricity for one million homes.

"Together we can offer a technically advanced solution to the problem of rising carbon emissions, as well as a practical and commercial template for clean energy generation," she said.

Fuel cell technology
Alkaline fuel cell is one of the most developed fuel cell technologies and is highly energy efficient, but applying it to large-scale industrial settings is still in its infancy. AFC Energy has developed alkaline fuel cells that promise to deliver on a large scale and at low cost, while delivering energy efficient, emissions-free electricity.

They work by turning fossil fuels, or other energy sources such as waste, into electricity using hydrogen. First the fuel is put into a gasification chamber where very high temperatures turn it into syngas, a gas mixture that contains varying amounts of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. It can then be turned into electricity by the new generation alkaline fuel cells.

Using fuel cells at Hatfield
At Hatfield, Powerfuel is constructing a large scale integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power station. It has already received funding from the European Union to the tune of £164 million to develop the low carbon coal plant and is one of the sites competing for UK Government CCS funding.

Initial construction will involve an 800 MW combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) facility optimised for syngas conversion and operation. Powerfuel then plans to convert the CCGT plant into a 900 MW IGCC power station fuelled by its extensive coal resources at Hatfield colliery.

B9 Coal said syngas used in the plant would be passed through a clean-up process to produce hydrogen as a feedstock for AFC’s fuel cells, producing emissions-free electricity at 60 per cent electrical efficiency.

Potential to replace gas turbines
Murphy said the technology had the benefit of being able to be scaled up easily and over time to replace gas turbines completely at power stations.

This is the second CCS project B9 Coal and AFC’s fuel cell technology are involved in. They are part of another Government CCS demonstration bid being proposed Rio Tinto Alcan’s Lynemouth Smelter in Northumberland. In this case, AFC Energy’s fuel cell technology will combine with Linc Energy’s Underground Coal Gasification (UCG), a process that could potentially give access to an extra 17 billion tonnes of coal in the UK.

Ian Balchin, ceo of AFC Energy Plc, described the company’s technology as "truly transitional: solving the carbon conundrum of fossil fuels whilst enabling the renewable energy economy."