The Department of Energy’s Savannah River National Laboratory (SNRL) has teamed with the Center for Hydrogen Research to build and test a prototype system to demonstrate how hydrogen fuel cells can effectively be used to provide an emergency backup power system for hospitals and other critical facilities. The partners will combine SRNL's unique hydrogen storage technology with a fuel cell capable of generating electricity from hydrogen fuel and an electrolyzer to produce hydrogen.
These combined elements will make up a regenerative fuel cell system that will provide a rugged, compact, quick-response, reliable emergency power supply for occasions when grid power is temporarily cut off. The resulting prototype will serve as a model for future larger scale systems that would enhance U.S. energy security by providing safe, reliable, and renewable backup power for a variety of critical applications. This work is part of SRNL's initiatives to work quickly to help the United States realize energy security.
