Hawaii Fuel Cell Test Facility

Hawaii Fuel Cell Test Facility

Hydrogen fuel cells are regarded as one of the most promising energy technologies for the future, for electricity generation and especially for transportation. Think of them as generators that chemically produce electricity from hydrogen and oxygen.

HECO’s Ward Avenue complex is the site of the Hawaii Fuel Cell Test Facility, a state-of-the-art research facility to characterize fuel cell performance and reliability. It supports hydrogen fuel cell research efforts of the University of Hawaii School of Ocean & Earth Science & Technology’s Hawaii Natural Energy Institute (HNEI). Utilizing 4,000 square feet of HECO warehouse space, HECO, HNEI, the Office of Naval Research, and UTC Fuel Cells have developed a facility to test proton exchange membrane fuel cell designs, materials, fuels and components, evaluating endurance, reliability and efficiency.

The facility has been in operation since April 2003. and currently has eight test stands including three able to handle full size (up to 600 cm2) single cells or small stacks, and one test station for high speed hardware-in-loop (HiL) testing to characterize dynamic performance of small fuel cell systems, i.e. autonomous vehicle applications. Future developments in fuel cell testing will include transient measurements plus testing of stacks and complete fuel cell systems.

Learn more about the facility.

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