VERIZON TESTS POWER STRATEGY BY USING HYDROGEN FUEL CELLS

Verizon's announcement last week that it is now using hydrogen fuel cells in its Garden City, N.Y., central office, though still early in the process, is the first major step in what some hope will be a long-term move away from traditional power sources.

The project, which has been active since the early part of the summer, is using seven fuel cells from UTC Power in combination with commercial power from Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) to support the CO. The building, which houses switching for about 35,000 access lines and also is a network surveillance operations center, draws around 2.7 MW of power. The fuel cells will provide about 1 MW with the balance to come from LIPA.

“The system is designed to operate in parallel,” said Adolfo Reyes, Verizon real-estate executive director and leader of the company's energy efforts. “If something were to happen to the fuel cell plant, the entire plant would be shifted to the commercial grid. If something were to happen to the commercial grid, our backup systems would kick in.”

Those backup systems include traditional valve regulated lead acid (VRLA) batteries and a diesel generator. Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg, who announced the pilot program with a press conference last week, said the company wants to move away from both batteries and generators because of environmental and cost factors. Carriers have long sought an alternative to VRLA batteries because of their disposal costs (see Telephony, Sept. 19, page 34).

“The only byproducts [with hydrogen fuel cells] are heated air and water,” Seidenberg said.

The use of the new fuel cells also will reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere by 11.1 million pounds, according to Reyes.

Financially, the trial, which is being partially paid for by a grant from the Department of Energy, is expected to save Verizon about $250,000 in power costs. Verizon also expects to receive some funding from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

The company is being careful to note that the Garden City project is just a one site but part of a larger effort to use alternative power sources. In some of its Western markets, Verizon is exploring the use of micro-turbine to reduce costs anreliance on batteries. Though it is expected to save money in the long run, the initial cost of most alternative power technologies is more expensive than batteries and generators.

“We weren't really focused on upfront cost for this,” Reyes said. “We're looking at improving reliability, reducing network costs and improving the environment.”

The new fuel cells will use natural gas from local gas company Keyspan to create the hydrogen atoms in a chemical process that separates hydrogen atoms as the gas is fed into each of the cells. The hydrogen is then recombined with oxygen atoms from the air to generate DC power. Heat and water that is vented from each cell is reclaimed to help heat the building.

Hydrogen fuel cells initially have been targeted at providing backup power to wireless base stations. The Verizon program is the first to use the technology as primary power in such a high-demand environment, said Jan van Dokkum, president of UTC Power.

“This is the largest fuel cell install in the U.S., and in fact, I believe this is the largest fuel cell installation in the world,” he said. “This is not a demonstration. This is commercial.”