California: Honda’s hydrogen fuel cells to be used in data centers

Honda has announced that its old retired Clarity fuel cells will now be used for backup power at one of its data centers as part of a trial project. The company said that this aligns with its carbon neutrality goals, which it aims to reach by 2050, and promotes circular economy principles. The company outlined that utilizing hydrogen for backup power systems offers a "promising future" for clean, reliable and high-quality power generation. Further, it explained that this is especially the case when operating on so-called "green hydrogen" made from renewable sources. 

The demonstration project will use a stationary fuel cell unit, with a 500kW capacity; repurposing the technology once used in fuel cells. The design reportedly allows the output to increase every 250 kW packaged with four fuel cells, likewise, the flexibility enables the ability to change the layout of the fuel cell units to suit the installation environment.

"We believe there's great promise in hydrogen fuel cells for backup power and offsetting potential peak power events," said Honda's project lead of the stationary fuel cell Koji Moriyama. "By installing and utilising our core technology, the fuel cell system, in various applications such as stationary power generation, Honda aims to stimulate hydrogen usage and provide clean energy for potential commercial customers," Moriyama added.

The company has outlined that this is currently just a "proof of concept," but that, going forward, it hopes to sell them to other data centers.