Two of my favorite subjects of discussion over these past few months, ITM Power and the Hydrogen Engine Center (HOC) have joined forces to promote the hydrogen economy and fueling infrastructure. The Hydrogen Engine Center, based in Algona, Iowa has just shipped an 8 kw hydrogen-powered generator to ITM Power in the United Kingdom.
The HOC generator will be used in conjunction with the ITM Power 10 kw home refueling station. If you remember, ITM Power and Roush Technologies announced in July 2008 that they would be building and offering for sale not only the hydrogen home refueling unit but a retrofitted H2 Ford Focus as a package deal.
The point of HOC and ITM Power teaming up is to put together a complimentary system, where the ITM home refueler will generate the H2 and the HOC generator will take this H2 and create electricity. The goal is to jointly produce non-polluting, carbon-free grid-independent power systems.
Besides cell phone towers, the market for the HOC and ITM generators will be for other remote off-grid home and business applications. The idea is to eventually scale of the generators into the 30 kw range.
One might imagine that this device could also provide power in certain spots in developing nations, as part of scientific explorations, for use in emergency situations and for remote homes and businesses where other forms of power generation would be impractical or impossible.