Fujitsu installs Silicon Valley's first hydrogen fuel cell generator

Fujitsu has become the first high-tech company in California to boast its own hydrogen power plant that, according to the company, provides clean, efficient power for the campus data center and other operations.

While solar power has become the poster child of alternative energy for many a tech company (not to mention hydroelectric and others), Fujitsu has adopted a different technology for powering its Sunnyvale, Calif. facility: hydrogen.

Last Friday, Fujitsu became the first high-tech company in California to boast its own hydrogen power plant that, according to the company, provides clean, efficient power for the campus data center and other operations.

The fuel cell will generate 200 kilowatts of clean energy while surplus heat from the fuel cell will be captured to provide hot water for the facility.

Fujitsu reports that the hydrogen fuel cell "will provide 50 percent of the power needed to cool the Fujitsu Sunnyvale campus datacenter and labs."

"With a payback of about three and a half years and a lifespan of about 15 years, hydrogen power is an excellent investment for the company," says Tetsuo Urano, head of operations at Fujitsu America.

The hydrogen fuel cell installed on the Fujitsu Sunnyvale campus is the UTC Power PureCell Model 200 system. According to UTC, a power plant typically releases 67% of energy from fuel as waste heat, and the remaining 33% as electricity. By comparison, its fuel cell technology wastes only 20% of its energy; the remaining 80% becomes electricity.