Ballard Power Systems has partnered with GS Platech, a subsidiary of GS Caltex, one of South Korea’s largest petroleum refiners, to demonstrate waste-to-energy power generation using zero-emission fuel cells and hydrogen produced from processing of municipal solid waste.
GS Platech’ pilot plant in Cheongsong, South Korea is capable of treating five tons of organic solid waste per day using plasma gasification technology and producing sufficient high purity hydrogen to generate 50 kW of clean power. Ballard will supply a fuel cell generator that will be fuelled by this hydrogen, based on its Dantherm Power DBX5000 technology.
Plasma gasification plants are another good source of high quality hydrogen, in addition to hydrogen-producing chemical operations, such as chlor-alkaline plants. On a larger scale, this solution can produce a significant amount of electricity that could be sold back to the grid.
—Michael Goldstein, Ballard’s Chief Commercial Officer
This will be the first demonstration of a waste-to-energy solution incorporating these technologies together. Upon successful demonstration of the solution, GS Platech intends to further promote it to new customers worldwide.
The treatment of municipal solid waste is a growing problem in many nations, including Asia Pacific countries with particularly high population densities such as China, India, Korea, Japan and Singapore. This solution can potentially allow municipalities to address two key environmental issues in tandem:environmentally responsible waste treatment as well as clean power production.
This project is undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada provided through the Department of the Environment, under the framework of the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate. The Asia-Pacific Partnership is a group of public and private sector partners focused on expanding investment and trade in cleaner energy technologies in key market sectors.