STAMFORD — Thanks to a zoning board approval, Stamford’s hospital is poised to chase a greener future.
The Stamford Zoning Board on Monday unanimously approved Stamford Health’s request to install fuel cells — energy-efficient technology that turns hydrogen-rich materials into a power source — at two of its locations in the city.
While fuel cell technology currently depends on natural gas to run, it is a developing technology; the real environmental wins are still several years away, supporters said.
“The first hydrogen-only fuel cell deployment is in India right now,” Kevin Santella, president of the energy consulting firm Dylan Associates, told the board. “That is the way things are going, that natural gas eventually will give way to hydrogen and fuel cells.”
Stamford Health plans to replace parking spaces with fuel cell technology at its Tully Health Center and place the system near the ambulatory entrance at the Bennett Medical Center. Together, they could power 42 percent of all operations at Stamford Health’s main campus and 88 percent of operations at the Tully Health Center, officials said.
Eversource could play a pivotal role in fuel cell’s implementation at Stamford Health, partially thanks to the company’s Renewable Energy Certificate program. Fuel cells run at the same time as the traditional electrical grid, so the fuel cell system would supplement the power they provide and lessen strain on the electrical grid, Santella said.
“I liken it to two hoses filling a pool,” he added. “One hose goes away, and the other hose does the job. We’re there to remove some burden from the grid when we’re operating, but when we’re not operating, Eversource will be there to back us up.”
But on top of that, the Renewable Certificate Program gives Eversource a larger stake in fuel cell energy at the hospital, officials said. The utility company purchases renewable energy credits, or RECs, from some projects, Jason Klein, the attorney that represented Stamford Health, told The Stamford Advocate. Eversource plans to award the bids in early July. During the meeting, Klein asked the board to consider the impending deadline in approving the request.
While the potential Eversource partnership creates a financial incentive for fuel cells, there’s also a huge environmental benefit, officials said. Experts widely maintain that fuel cell tech is considerably more energy efficient than traditional power sources and that, generally speaking, energy efficient technology uses less initial energy to create a larger output.
Conventional power plants generate electricity at efficiencies of 33 to 35 percent, while fuel cell systems operate at efficiency levels close to 60 percent, according to the federal Department of Energy. In comparison, a car’s engine is about 20 percent efficient, the department reported.
Fuel cell tech as it currently exists still uses non-renewable resources — including natural gas — to operate and emits both water and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as a byproduct.
In a few years, those emissions might be a thing of the past, experts say.
“Some people like the idea of having green hydrogen, and that is hydrogen that’s produced differently by using renewable resources,” Joel Rinebold of the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology said. Rinebold specializes in managing efficient energy systems and helped establish the Connecticut Hydrogen Fuel Cell Coalition, a group that seeks to expand fuel cell’s use in the state.
Wind, solar, and water power can create hydrogen, which can be stored and shipped off to fuel cells via pipeline when needed. Some advocates see a bright future in using offshore wind in Connecticut to create a better energy system.
Implementing fuel cell now is a way to future-proof the hospital, especially as the technology becomes commonplace, Rinebold said.
Fuel cell technology is particularly useful for hospitals because it runs constantly as a secondary power source, unlike traditional generators officials said.
“We’re taking one step at a time,” Rinebold said, “but these are just terrific steps going toward a sustainable energy ecology.”
veronica.delvalle@hearstmediact.com
Fuel cell technology turns energy into electricity without burning fossil fuels and releasing pollutants into the air. Current fuel cell systems, like the one Stamford Health will implement, still release water and carbon dioxide into the air.
“The fuel cell process works very much like a battery working in reverse,” Joel Rinebold of the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology said, “with fuel added to the process, and the conversion of that fuel into electricity, without combustion, with a higher efficiency, and with minimal release of air emissions.”
The technology behind fuel cells has existed since the mid-1800s, but it has caught fire during the past three decades. NASA has used it to fuel space missions for more than 40 years.
When hydrogen or hydrogen-rich fuels are deposited into fuel cells, “the hydrogen goes through the system and an electron is stripped off the hydrogen atom,” according to Rinebold. Stripping off an electron from the hydrogen creates electricity. As long as hydrogen is coming into the system, it can produce power.
-Veronica Del Valle
