The PowerTap on-site hydrogen generation and refueling system

Nuvera Fuel Cells Inc will provide its PowerTap on-site hydrogen generation and refueling technology to fuel forklifts at a new Ace Hardware Corp site in Wilmer, Texas.

Nuvera says Raymond Corp of Greene, NY, United States will supply the forklifts, and Plug Power Inc of Latham, NY, United States will deliver GenDrive fuel cell units. Quantities were not disclosed.

"We are pleased to have been selected by Ace Hardware as its hydrogen fuel provider," says Prabhu Rao, Nuvera vice president of commercial operations. "We are excited to see a growing number of leading companies like Ace turn to PowerTap product solutions to provide hydrogen in a safe, cost-effective and convenient manner."

Nuvera will install and maintain the system at Ace's new regional distribution centre.

Projected daily production is 50 kg of hydrogen and Ace will utilise Nuvera's PowerTap+ service, eliminating most upfront costs of bringing hydrogen to the site. Under this supply agreement, Nuvera will retain ownership of the equipment, monitor performance remotely and perform regular maintenance.

Nuvera will position the hydrogen generation, compression and storage equipment on a small pad near the new facility and locate dispensers indoors.

An operator can refuel a hydrogen-powered forklift in less than two minutes.

"Ace Hardware's forklifts will be fueled with hydrogen produced on-site from our PowerTap steam methane reformer," says Gus Block, Nuvera director of marketing. "About 45% of the hydrogen actually comes from water. We estimate that as a result of Ace Hardware's new equipment, the company will be producing 70 T less carbon dioxide and avoid 330,115 kWh of electrical consumption annually."

A 2 April Plug Power press release says that the Ace centre in Wilmer would deploy 65 of Plug Power's GenDrive fuel cells and that Crown Equipment Corp of New Bremen, Ohio would manufacture the forklifts.

Nuvera has more than 125,000 sqft. (11,700 sqm) of facilities. Business lines include fuel cell stacks and, increasingly, hydrogen generation equipment for moderate volume requirements. Nuvera's PowerTap+ service is targeted at fleets of fuel cell-powered forklifts with daily hydrogen fuel needs ranging from 25-250 kg. Suppliers to hydrogen users with larger volume requirements include Air Products & Chemicals Inc, Praxair Inc, Airgas Inc and L'Air Liquide SA.

Nuvera has corporate offices, analytical research laboratories and product development, testing and production facilities in Billerica and, through Nuvera Fuel Cells Europe SrL, in San Donato Milanese, Italy. The Osio Sopra, Italy facility of Società Italiana Acetilene e Derivati SpA provides fuel cell qualification laboratory services to Nuvera.