In Sunnyvale, California in the heart of Silicon Valley, major high-tech company Fujitsu has gone even higher tech by powering their facility with a hydrogen generator. The 200 kw UTC Power fuel cell provides approximately half the power to their data center providing reliable off-the-grid energy that is important to many tech companies concerned with power disruptions and outages.
The surplus heat from the fuel cell is also being used to supply hot water to the folks at the facility. The UTC Power Purecell system is expected to save 800,000 gallons of water a year.
Now, while the West Coast high-tech companies are going with fuel cells for reliable power, the East Coast low-tech companies are doing the same. Pepperidge Farms in Danbury, Connecticut is installing a second fuel cell costing $5.4 million to power their bakery.
It’s good to see many companies growing wise to the fact that hydrogen generators and fuel cells will provide them clean, reliable power that will keep their operations running smoothly. Perhaps when the lights start flickering and computers start rebooting at their competitors, more companies will also jump onboard this kind of energy resource.