Fuel cell trial – a first for Australia

Ergon Energy has embarked on an Australia-first, by hooking up a hydrogen fuel cell in a Cairns display home to generate electricity into the supply network, Mines and Energy Minister Geoff Wilson said today.

Minister Wilson, in Cairns for the historic sitting of State Parliament, said the ground-breaking technology had the potential to be used in remote communities on the fringes of the electricity network.

“Hydrogen fuel cells are an exciting generation concept,” Mr Wilson said.

“They combine compressed hydrogen and oxygen from the air to produce electricity, water and heat with no greenhouse gas emissions,” he said.

Mr Wilson said Ergon Energy would install a residential-sized hydrogen fuel cell into the display home at Trinity Park.

“The fuel cell will run for about two hours a day to demonstrate the supply of electricity direct to the customer’s premises.

“On-site generation means that instead of drawing from the main electricity grid, a household will be able to generate its own power and reduce the load on the network.

“It’s an instant start. It doesn’t have to warm up and it’s not dependent on sun or wind to generate power,” Mr Wilson said.

Fuel cells are designed so that power can be available, on demand, 24 hours a day.

“There’s real potential for this type of cutting-edge technology to be used elsewhere in the network, particularly in remote regions,” he said.

“If successful, it could reduce the need to build bigger powerlines and infrastructure and that means huge savings.

“The use of hydrogen fuel cells to generate electricity into a large network is a first for Australia and it will be happening right here in far north Queensland.

“It’s appropriate that the trial is taking place here in the electorate of Barron River because the local member, Steve Wettenhall is a passionate advocate for tackling climate change through alternative energy sources,” Mr Wilson said.

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