Bend firm generates interest in fuel cells.

Byline: SCOTT MABEN The Register-Guard

They threw Isaac a going-away party Thursday at LaneElectric Cooperative's headquarters in west Eugene. The guests nibbled on cookies while he slurped a methanol milkshake.

Isaac is the name the office staff gave the refrigerator-sized fuel cell system that has been humming away in the lobby since Oct. 17.

After seven weeks of showing what it can do, the high-tech power generator is on its way to Roseburg for another exhibition at an electric co-op.

"It's been really fun having him here," said Mary Wirtz, manager of member and regional affairs for LaneElectric. "People - in Eugene in particular - are very interested in alternative energies."

The fuel cell uses hydrogen and oxygen, the very molecules of water, to produce electricity with virtually no pollution. It also generates some heat, which can be used for water heaters.

It can run on a variety of fuels - methanol, ethanol, methane, propane, kerosene and diesel - and produce up to three kilowatts of power directly for a home as well as charge batteries for use when demand peaks.

It has powered heaters, fans, lights, computers, a TV and other appliances at the utility, catching the eye of customers curious about how it works and how they can get one.

Designed and built by Bend-based IdaTech, the fuel cell unit remains in the development stage and isn't expected to be for sale for several more years.

"There's a lot to be done on these systems to make them capable of providing primary power to a home," said Gordon Gregory, IdaTech's communications director.

When it does hit the market, it is likely to appeal to rural residents who rely on conventional fuel generators, which are noisier and dirtier, as well as those who want to build on land but don't want to pay the tens of thousands of dollars it can cost to hook up to the nearest power line.

Prototypes of IdaTech's residential fuel cell systems are popping up in utilities around the Northwest, both to help test the units and to drum up interest in the emerging technology.

The company sold 100 units, costing about $30,000 each, to the federal Bonneville Power Administration as part of a development phase to make fuel cell systems available for home and small commercial use by 2003.

The BPA split the cost with customers who wanted to give the units a whirl. That included the Pacific Northwest Generating Cooperative, which represents LaneElectric and 14 other electric co-ops.

PNGC is showcasing its fuel cell unit in each of its members' headquarters. It was previously shown at Blachly-Lane Electric Co-op, which serves part of western Lane County, and Consumers Power in Philomath.

Some people can't seem to wait for the product to be available, Roger Manke of PNGC said.

"I had one lady say, `Well how much is it?' She had her checkbook out and was ready to buy it," Manke said.

Through the same BPA program, Emerald People's Utility District, serving rural areas outside Eugene-Springfield, received the first model a year and a half ago and recently replaced it with the second generation. It's set up in the utility's Eugene warehouse and is available for the public to see.

The future of fuel cell technology, especially for rural co-ops, is promising, EPUD spokesman Bob Mieger said.

"We envision one day instead of building five miles of power line to someone's house, we could give them a fuel cell and set up a special rate for that," Mieger said.

The Eugene Water & Electric Board is scheduled to receive its first fuel cell setup this month and will place it in its kitchen on the second floor of its north building near the Ferry Street Bridge, spokesman John Mitchell said. The unit will run lights and heat water, he said.

Invented more than 150 years ago, fuel cells have seen limited use outside of the laboratory.

Until recently, they were used mainly in the space program and for certain military applications. Now fuel cells also are the focus of multinational development programs aimed at producing clean, fuel-efficient vehicles.

IdaTech, which refers to the fuel cells as "silent electron factories with no moving parts and no combustion," has designed a processor that chemically removes the hydrogen from whatever fuel is being used.

A proton exchange membrane then strips electrons from the hydrogen, thereby generating electricity.

The process virtually eliminates the carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and other harmful gases emitted by combustion engines.

The company believes its first commercial product won't be residential fuel cell units but rather systems for intermittent use, such as portable power and recreational uses.

IdaTech is developing small fuel cell systems, designed to produce 500 to 1,000 watts, for niche markets that include recreational vehicles, pleasure boats and portable power for use during camping.

As for what those units or residential systems might cost, the company doesn't yet know.

"Suffice to say they won't be ready unless they are priced in a realm that makes them commercially viable," Gregory said.

"So a residential system is not going to cost $50,000, because nobody is going to buy it."

Nearly three years ago, an IdaTech technician estimated that the first buyers will pay about $15,000 to $20,000 for a system.

As manufacturing volume increases, the cost would fall to about $3,000 to $5,000, he said.

The price will depend on the cost of fuel cell stacks, which IdaTech does not make.

The cost to operate a system probably won't be less than the price of electricity on the power grid - at least not initially in the Northwest, Gregory said. "In some parts of the country, where power can cost up to 19 cents a kilowatt hour, we think fuel cells - ours and others - will be competitive in terms of operating cost," he said.

CAPTION(S):

Steve King of Pacific Northwest Generating Cooperative answers questions about the Fuel Cell demonstration at the LaneElectric Cooperative on Bailey Hill Road. A fuel cell is essentially a battery with an external fuel source. In this case, it runs on methanol and is 35 percent efficient but can be configured to be 85 percent efficient when the waste heat is used to heat water or a greenhouse. THOMAS BOYD / The Register-Guard