| UK-based Intelligent Energy says such a scenario is not too far away.. |
Typically fuel cells have efficiency of conversion of 50 per cent which will be much higher than the efficiency of a diesel generator whose efficiency ranges between 5 per cent and 20 per cent.
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Rs 10,000 crore — that's how much telecom tower companies spend on buying diesel for their back-up gensets each year, according to one estimate. Today, there are about 3,00,000 towers and about 50,000 more would need to be added each year for the next five years — and most of them will come in far-flung locations. Since in India availability of grid power is a matter of luck, you need to provide all these iron giants sufficient back-up so that they stay energised round the clock. Towers consume not less than 120 units a day and you can do the math for costs.
Diesel gensets have been the obvious choice but diesel is dirty and costly; and any deregulation of diesel prices will only emaciate the wallet further.
Is there a viable alternative to diesel? Well, people have been trying to integrate diesel with solar panels, a kind of a double back-up, but it comes with a price, as you would have to invest in both systems and their maintenance.
One UK-based company, Intelligent Energy, is posing fuel-cells as an alternative. We've heard of fuel-cells in the context of automobiles — General Motors is doing this and Toyota is doing that — but this technology is sufficiently advanced for stationary applications — such as back-up for telecom towers.
Fuels cells are, conceptually, reverse electrolysis. In electrolysis, you pass electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. In fuel-cells you mix hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity.
In an interview to eWorld, Murali Arikara, Executive Vice-President - Emerging Markets, discusses the economics of fuel-cells under telecom towers.
Murali Arikara
Yes. Today, you are looking at 10-12 hours of power outages. Diesel prices going up and with deregulation of diesel prices, the fuel prices could go up by 30 per cent. There are 3,30,000 telecom towers in India, and 50,000 would need to be added year after year for the next five years.
What are the alternatives you are competing against?
Solar. Solar has pretty significant subsidies from the government and so they are able to look at solar from a different stand point. Some people have tried solar panels and micro-wind generator combinations. But we will be competitive against them, because what we are competing against is a solution that you don't have much control over. Unlike us, what they are doing is offsetting a few hours of diesel operation, but not eliminating it.
How expensive would the fuel-cell machines be?
If you look at the operating cost, we will be very competitive. Diesel power today costs anywhere between Rs 22 and Rs 75 a unit, because they run gensets at a range of efficiency levels depending on the requirement.
Typically fuel cells have efficiency of conversion of 50 per cent which will be much higher than the efficiency of a diesel generator whose efficiency ranges between 5 per cent and 20 per cent. Our biggest challenge is the price of hydrogen. We are negotiating with several people. If we get hydrogen at Rs 350 per kg, we will be competitive.
What does hydrogen cost today?
It is hard to tell because it varies from place to place and depends on what quantities you buy.
Diesel is available everywhere, but hydrogen?
The logistics chain will shift from delivering diesel to generators to delivering hydrogen for fuel cells. There are currently several chlor alkali plants that provide hydrogen as a by-product. In the initial stages we plan on utilising this existing source of hydrogen. As the market develops we will work on developing the hydrogen infrastructure through investments made along with partners in developing this infrastructure.
But how much would your machines cost, to the customers?
We are looking at providing the machines as a service. As part of that, we are trying to find partners in India whom we can work with — existing companies that are already providing services to cell tower industry. I can't give any names at this point.
Our plan right now is to have some initial system deployed to prove to the end user, and then over the next year have some more deployments and go in for full-gear implementation after that.
At this time all I can say is that we plan to be at the initial stage price competitive or on price parity with diesel generators. We will know more once we have deployed more systems in the field and account for all the costs, including those of delivering hydrogen to the sites.
If the market is as big as you describe it, does it make sense for you to produce the fuel cell systems here?
Yes, that is what we are working towards. We are talking to a few players in India. We will select one of them to set up a joint venture.
The fuel cell devices generate tremendous amount of heat. How would you address this issue?
In our case the fuel cell is proton exchange membrane (PEM)-based fuel cell operating at around 10 degree Centigrade above ambient so the heat rejection is at a temperature that is close to ambient.
There are some fuel cells such as Solid oxide fuel cells that operate at close to 1,000 degree Centigrade and the heat rejection there is at a higher temperature. We do not use this type of system.
mramesh@thehindu.co.in
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