Fuel Cell Application Facility: Fuel Cell powered Fork Lift Truck Development

The Fuel Cell Application Facility is currently establishing on of the UK’s first Hydrogen Village at Wilton in Teesside. This is being build to actively demonstrate how the following technologies could work within a low carbon transport and distributed energy network. Demonstration to include:

• A distributed stationary energy supply utilising a large scale fuel cell
• A Hydrogen Filling Station and hydrogen distribution system utilising organic hydride storage.
• A Bio-Hydrogen Facility to investigate methods to generate hydrogen from biomass. This to be linked to the NIBF facility for the production and investigation of new enzymes and process intensification technology to generate bio-hydrogen.
• Vehicle and transport utilising hydrogen as a fuel.
• Renewable hydrogen generation. Initially wind to hydrogen and storage.
• A development site for novel hydrogen vehicles such as being proposed
• Evaluation site for a distributed energy systems linked to traffic management.

One of the key capabilities being developed at Wilton is a development centre for fuel cell hybrid logistic vehicles including forklift trucks. FCAF and its partners have the capability to develop:

1. Novel Fuel Cell hybrid power packs incorporating super capacitors
2. Renewable hydrogen generation
3. Portable high pressure hydrogen filling stations- up to 70MPA
4. Power electronics for novel power trains
5. Whole system testing within the Wilton Centre

In addition the centre has excellent facilities for blast testing of high pressure hydrogen tanks, analytical material analysis and has established linked to world class centre in automotive test and development.

Key partners include: Sunderland University, University of Newcastle the Global Automotive Technology Exchange Group with links to world class centres in UK, Europe, US, China and India.