Capstone partners with hydrogen supply, fueling company

Capstone Green Energy has entered into a strategic licensing and manufacturing agreement with PowerTap Hydrogen Capital Corp. to manufacture the company’s on-site hydrogen production and dispensing system.

Aiming at becoming an industry leader in on-site hydrogen production and fueling, PowerTap has developed and patented a compact Steam Methane Reforming (SMR) technology to create on-site hydrogen production versus traditional methods. As a result of the new strategic agreement, Capstone Green Energy will manufacture the small footprint product for use in fueling stations and as part of its distributed energy, low emission microgrid solutions.

The PowerTap product turns natural gas, including renewable natural gas (RNG), into on-site hydrogen and intends to leverage an innovative carbon capture system.

The PowerTap product turns natural gas, including renewable natural gas (RNG), into on-site hydrogen and intends to leverage an innovative carbon capture system.

“In August 2020, PowerTap acquired the intellectual property portfolio of Hydrogen Fuel Technology”, said PowerTap Senior Advisor David Bray. “More recently, PowerTap has partnered with the Andretti Group, a family of automotive product and service companies, in order to leverage the group’s vast network and dedication to excellent on-site operations. PowerTap will work hand-in-hand with the Andretti Group at the site level to drive an exciting customer experience with hydrogen fueling. The new partnership with Capstone will further those ambitions.”

The Capstone Green Energy strategic licensing and manufacturing agreement will enhance PowerTap’s product development efforts and facilitate the manufacturing of their commercial hydrogen production and fueling products, the companies said.

“The PowerTap third generation, on-site blue hydrogen production, and dispensing system is a unique solution that will drive the deployment of needed hydrogen infrastructure in the U.S. and abroad,” said Raghu Kilambi, CEO of PowerTap Hydrogen Capital Corp. “We selected Capstone Green Energy for their proven product development, certification, and manufacturing expertise. The strategic licensing and manufacturing agreement with Capstone Green Energy will facilitate the manufacturing and commercialization of our hydrogen production and fueling products.”

The agreement is a part of the broader strategic plan for Capstone Green Energy as it supports the company’s ongoing product development goals for energy efficiency and microgrid applications using hydrogen and hydrogen blends. This initiative started many years ago with the patent of a hydrogen fuel injector, which has resulted in Capstone’s recent successful lab testing of 100% hydrogen microturbine energy systems. Capstone Green Energy’s development of hydrogen solutions is accelerating, driven by momentum in the hydrogen economy that is advancing a broad range of technologies as well as longer-term infrastructure planning.

“We continue to expand our presence within the ever-changing energy landscape through our complementary network partners and technologies that enable Capstone Green Energy’s customers to achieve their carbon reduction goals at a realistic cost,” said Capstone Green Energy President and Chief Executive Officer Darren Jamison. “Capstone Green Energy looked at several hydrogen products and hydrogen conversion technologies. We selected PowerTap because their innovative product is designed to eliminate the significant cost and complication of delivered hydrogen and secure a dedicated on-site hydrogen supply for our hydrogen-fueled microturbine systems.”

As a distributed energy and energy as a service (EaaS) solution provider, the Capstone Green Energy products can be located adjacent to a hydrogen generation source, such as PowerTap’s innovative offering, reducing the efficiency losses and costs that come with converting and transporting hydrogen, said Capstone Green Energy Chief Revenue Officer Jim Crouse.

“Combined with proposed hydrogen production and efficiency investment tax credits, the Capstone on-site solution becomes a cost-competitive, quick-to-market, best-value option enabling customers to reduce or even eliminate their carbon emissions greatly.” Crouse said. “Today, hydrogen is believed by many to be the holy grail of carbon-free baseload power and distributed generation. As we improve our ability to produce hydrogen economically on site, hydrogen-fueled combined heat and power (H-CHP) and highly resilient microgrids have the ability to revolutionize the energy industry.”