The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) has awarded a contract to UTC Fuel Cells (UTCFC), a unit of United Technologies Corp, and the Northeast Advanced Vehicle Consortium (NAVC) to design a heavy-duty, zero emission, ambient-pressure fuel cell power plant for buses.
The effort is being financed by $2.6 million from the DOT with a $2 million match from UTCFC.
NAVC, a non-profit association of private and public sector firms and agencies working together to promote advanced vehicle technologies in the Northeast, will administer the project.
This project calls for UTCFC to design a hydrogen-fueled fuel cell power plant in the range of 200 kilowatts. The unit is to be an ambient-pressure fuel cell system. Ambient pressure fuel cells better manage the water produced by the fuel cell. The result is a simpler, lower-cost system that is quieter, more fuel efficient, and easier to install into a vehicle.