A new system to generate renewable hydrogen, electricity and water has been officially opened at Toyota’s facility in Long Beach, California.
Developed in partnership with FuellCell Energy, the first-of-its-kind ‘Tri-gen’ system uses biogas to produce renewable electricity, renewable hydrogen, and usable water, and was built to support the vehicle processing and distribution centre for Toyota Logistics Services at the company’s largest North American vehicle processing facility.
Representatives from the Port of Long Beach, Toyota and FuelCell Energy officially open the Tri-gen system
“The dawn of the renewable hydrogen era is upon us, thanks to our collaboration with Toyota, FuelCell Energy and their innovative Tri-gen system,” said Port of Long Beach chief executive Mario Cordero.
“The green power generated by the Tri-gen system, and similar projects, is part of our multilayered strategy to fuel our goal to become the world’s first zero-emissions port.”
FuelCell Energy’s Tri-gen system began operation last autumn, producing green hydrogen, renewable electricity and usable water converted from biogas at California landfills.
The system is capable of generating up to 1,200 kg/day of hydrogen for fuel cell electric vehicles, and to supply an adjacent hydrogen refuelling station for heavy-duty drayage trucks operating at the port.
The water byproduct of hydrogen generation can produce up to 6,365 litres of usable water, which will be used for Toyota’s car wash operations, helping to reduce the demand on local water supplies by approximately 2.25 million litres per year.
The combustion-free process is a first of its kind nationally, reducing more than 8,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions and avoiding 5.4 tonnes of nitrogen oxide emissions.
