DOE Taps Nuvera Fuel Cells for Durability, Performance Research

April 12, 2010
Nuvera Fuel Cells announces it will begin two technical research projects for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to improve the durability and performance of fuel-cell stacks.

The projects, scheduled for completion in 2012, have a total value of $11.1 million. The DOE is contributing $8.4 million.

Los Alamos National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory are teaming up with Nuvera on the first project, called Spire, which identifies ways to make fuel cells more durable.

The second project, known as Aurora, seeks to optimize the efficiency and performance of fuel cells. Nuvera is partnering with Johnson Matthey Fuel Cell Ltd., Pennsylvania State University and Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory on the second project.

The DOE has set a goal to improve automotive fuel-stack cost to $15/kWe and durability to 5,000 hours by 2015.

For material handling applications, Nuvera offers <> a fuel-cell-based motive power system designed to replace lead-acid batteries in lift trucks. The company also supplies PowerTap hydrogen generators/dispensers for material handling equipment.
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Through its initial focus on industrial vehicles, Nuvera hopes to foster growth in emerging fuel-cell markets, such as transportation.