【City of Kawasaki】Demonstration Operation of an Independent Energy Supply System Utilizing Renewable Energy and Hydrogen
post date : 2015.10.19
【City of Kawasaki】City's Efforts to Realize an Environment and Industry of the Future – Demonstration Operation of an Independent Energy Supply System Utilizing Renewable Energy and Hydrogen
Since the occurrence of the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami, in addition to the pursuit of improved energy security and a more economical/cost-effective means of electricity generation, the realization of a low-carbon society that will contribute to control of CO2 emissions as well as help decrease stress on the environment has become a very important topic of discussion both in regards to the everyday lives of the city’s residents and to the sustained development of the city’s economy and industry.
In the midst of all this, the City of Kawasaki is promoting programs to realize a hydrogen-based society in collaboration with various actors located both in and around the city and built on trust-based relations with them; these actors include hydrogen-fuel cell related companies as well as others who have accumulated a number of superb environmental technologies in the process of overcoming their pollution problems of the past.
Most recently, the City of Kawasaki and Toshiba teamed up to host a joint-demonstration operation at the Kawasaki Port Promotion Association Hall and Higashi-Ohgishima-Naka Park (“Kawasaki Marien”) of the world’s first hydrogen-utilizing independent energy supply system—“H2One”.
H2One is an independent energy supply system containing such components as solar-panels, a storage battery, a hydrogen-producing electrolysis device, and a pure-hydrogen fuel cell. Because the system can run on water and sunlight alone, it can independently supply both electricity and hot water even in emergency situations where a community’s lifeline has been completely cut off.
At Kawasaki Marien—designated a temporary residence facility for those individuals from nearby areas who have difficulty returning home in the wake of a natural disaster—the H2One system is able to provide one week’s worth of electricity and hot water for 300 people. What’s more, because the system is designed to fit in a single container, it is also possible to load H2One onto a truck and transport it directly to the disaster area.
This current demonstration operation will verify the effectiveness of both H2One’s ability to function independent of the energy grid in emergency situations as well as of the Hydrogen Management System in normal use, also helping to greatly increase the efficiency of the overall system. By further advancing the capacity of the current hydrogen-storage mechanism, this operation aims to develop H2One as a future energy supply system for completely local production and local consumption.
[Inquiries]
Smart City Strategy Office, Kawasaki City General Planning Bureau
TEL: 044-200-2095
E-mail: 20smart@city.kawasaki.jp