JSE-listed platinum producer Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) and Canada-based Ballard Power Systems launched the world’s first platinum-using fuel cell mini-grid electrification field trial last week.

Amplats and Ballard Power Systems partnered with the Department of Energy (DoE) and the Moqhaka municipality to conduct the 12-month trial in the rural community of Naledi Trust, which is part of the municipality, in the southern part of the Fezile Dabi district of the Free State.

The trial entails providing electricity for 34 households that have been without power since 2009 using a methanol fuel cell prototype. The prototype was developed for use in an off-grid residential application, where the cost of electrification through grid expansion might be too expensive or technically prohibitive.

The fuel cell prototype has been delivering electricity to the households since last month and will continue to do so till the trial ends in July 2015.

Speaking at the launch, Department of Mineral Resources Deputy Minister Godfrey Oliphant said there were 3.4-million households in South Africa without access to electricity from the national grid, with 1.4-million of these being in rural areas.

He pointed out that on successful completion of the trial phase, plans were to proceed to a pilot test of the off-grid fuel cell technology, which entailed installing between 200 and 300 fuel cell units in villages across rural South Africa by 2015.

“This project could signal an entire fuel cell value chain [being established] in South Africa when sufficient scale is reached. This would create a new technology sector and also provide an opportunity to export the value-added fuel cell products to other emerging markets,” said Oliphant.

Several manufacturing and service jobs would also be created from this initiative, which would support South Africa’s mineral beneficiation agenda and create additional platinum demand of up to 7 500 oz over the next 15 years, he said.

Iterating this view at the launch was Amplats CEO Chris Griffith, who added that platinum-based fuel cells provided significant economic and environmental development opportunities for South Africa by facilitating the provision of clean, reliable and cost-effective electricity.

While it was important for Amplats to invest in platinum group metals (PGMs) mining, it also had a role to play in improving market demand in the short and long term; hence, its investment in the market development of PGMs through the PGM Development Fund, he added.

The fund, to which Amplats committed a further $100-million, in addition to an initial $10-million, was established to provide capital for further PGM market development and beneficiation, particularly in Southern Africa.

Amplats invests in early-stage commercialisation products capable of driving PGM demand in the long term. This includes investments in market development and beneficiation across three broad demand segments, namely jewellery, investment in PGM and industrial use.

Griffith added that the fuel cell rural electrification project formed part of the industrial uses of the PGMs demand sector.

Rural Electrification Project
Amplats and Ballard Power Systems had collectively invested $20-million to develop a suitable product for the rural electrification fuel cell market – about $100 000 of which was used only to implement the prototype project, said Ballard Power Systems business development VP Karim Kassam.

The trial is using three of Ballard Power Systems’ commercially proven 5 kW ElectraGen-ME fuel cell systems, each with its own methanol reformer, integrated by local engineering suppliers into a complete off-grid solution prototype.

The system includes a battery bank and direct current/alternating current inverters operating within a microgrid. The system is designed to provide 15 kW of fuel cell-generated electric power and can generate peak power of 60 kW when supported by batteries.

A monthly delivery of liquid methanol fuel, known as HydroPlus, to an external storage tank will enable uninterrupted primary power to these homes.

The fuel cell system is designed to supply the households with sufficient power to use televisions, radios, lights, refrigerators, stoves and cellphone chargers.

The field trial aims to validate the technical and operating requirements of a home generator product for off-grid applications in South Africa. It also assesses the logistics of fuel delivery, rural consumer electricity use patterns and ongoing product maintenance requirements.

Amplats executive marketing head Andrew Hinkly said at the launch that the field trial would provide valuable insight into the market requirements of off-grid communities.

He also emphasised that a commitment from government, the DoE and Eskom to use these systems as an alternative to extending the grid was key to furthering a local and sustainable fuel cell industry.

The market for fuel cell power generation extends much further than South Africa, with an estimated 82-million households in Africa still without electricity.

Ballard Power Systems is also undertaking development work on a new, lower-cost methanol fuel reformer and longer-life fuel cell stack for a commercial version of the home generator.

Kassam said that the “successful development of a commercial home generator product is also expected to offer cost-reduction benefits to the ElectraGen-ME methanol-fuelled systems used in commercial telecommunications backup power applications”.

While there were no barriers that would hinder the use of fuel cells to deliver primary power for rural applications in the telecommunication industry in South Africa, Kassam said that the rural areas needed to be in locations to which the grid would never be extended, as this would put the fuel cells market in competition with the national grid.

Amplats says the community will be supplied with a more permanent electricity solution and will be connected to the municipal electricity grid after the fuel cell project has been decommissioned.