Caterpillar Demonstrates Viability of Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology for Backup Power at Microsoft Data Center
Caterpillar Inc. has successfully collaborated with Microsoft and Ballard Power Systems to demonstrate the viability of using large-format hydrogen fuel cells to supply reliable and sustainable backup power for data centers. The demonstration provided valuable insights into the capabilities of fuel cell systems to power multi-megawatt data centers, ensuring uninterrupted power supply to meet 99.999-percent uptime requirements.
The demonstration was conducted in a challenging environment and validated the hydrogen fuel cell power system’s performance at 6,086 feet (1,855 meters) above sea level and in below-freezing conditions. The project simulated a 48-hour backup power event at Microsoft's data center in Cheyenne, Wyo., where a hydrogen fuel cell was integrated into a data center electrical plant to support its critical load. A Caterpillar Microgrid Controller was used to operate two Cat Power Grid Stabilization (PGS) 1260 battery energy storage systems along with the 1.5 MW hydrogen fuel cell.
Caterpillar led the project, providing the overall system integration, power electronics, and microgrid controls that form the central structure of the hydrogen power solution.
“This successful collaboration with Microsoft and Ballard demonstrates the potential of hydrogen fuel cells to help data centers address their critical power needs while reducing their emissions,” said Jaime Mineart, senior vice president of Caterpillar Electric Power.
“This project’s success provides an opportunity for hyperscale providers to drive innovations in the sustainability of power generation technologies,” said Sean James, senior director of data center research at Microsoft. “The research and findings of the hydrogen fuel cell demonstration will help us towards our goal of becoming carbon negative by 2030.”
The project is supported and partially funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office under the H2@Scale initiative, which brings stakeholders together to advance affordable hydrogen production, transport, storage and utilization in multiple energy sectors. During the demonstration, the DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory analyzed safety, techno-economics, and greenhouse gas impacts.
“We see the completion of this demonstration as an important proof point of the reliability and durability of Ballard’s fuel cells in providing zero-emission backup power for data centers,” said David Mucciacciaro, chief commercial officer of Ballard Power Systems. “We are excited about the ability of our products to meet the critical power needs of data center customers in this rapidly growing sector.”
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.