BWR Innovations revealed it had signed a two-year subcontract to develop a hydrogen fuel cell microgrid (H2MG) that could be replicated by the US Department of Defence.

The H2MG project will see gaseous and liquid hydrogen production, storage and utilisation technologies integrated into an existing 1.5MW solar microgrid system at the Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickman (JBPHH) in Hawaii.

Having been in operation since 2016, the Pacific Energy Assurance Renewables Laboratory (PEARL) microgrid has been demonstrating how military facilities can meet energy needs, mission assurance and cyber security.

Now, by introducing hydrogen, the research, development, testing and evaluation effort will demonstrate and assess the feasibility and performance of solar-to-hydrogen storage and off-take systems to support “island-able microgrids.”

BWR will deliver a hydrogen fuel cell microgrid, made up of a 1MW electrolyser, compression, 600kg hydrogen storage, 600kW of PEM fuel cells and software to control and integrate the technology into the existing microgrid.

The North Dakota-based firm said the hydrogen fuel cells and pneumatic hydraulics for the electrolyser and storage will be manufactured in partnership with Intelligent Energy.

With the project hoped to delivery hydrogen safety protocols and operating procedures, a techno-economic analysis (TEA) and business models for operation, Dr. Joel Jorgenson, President and CEO of BWR, said the company expects the project to reflect the importance of hydrogen as a “critical component” in microgrid solutions.