Air Products, Plug Power, Inc. and the City of Las Vegas teamed with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in a cost-shared project to develop, design, install and operate the world's first hydrogen energy station in Las Vegas, Nevada.

 

The objectives of the project are:

A hydrogen generator produces hydrogen through the reforming and purification of natural gas. The natural gas is provided to the site by pipeline. The hydrogen is supplied to both a hydrogen product compression unit and PEM (proton exchange membrane) fuel cell. The compression unit compresses the hydrogen and sends it to storage tanks in gaseous form. Once it has been stored, the hydrogen can be pumped directly into hydrogen fueled vehicles on demand or blended with natural gas for hybrid vehicles that run on a fuel mix.

 

The hydrogen not used for fueling vehicles is directed to a 50-kilowatt PEM fuel cell that generates electric power. The electrical output from the fuel cell is supplied to the Las Vegas electrical grid system for general consumer use. This electricity provides enough power on a daily basis for about 30 homes.

 

Air Products, which has the lead and overall responsibility for the project, is providing the hydrogen supply, the fueling station design, sub-station integration, environmental and safety planning and coordination, and overall project/construction management.

 

The fueling station was started up in June, 2002.