A new report from the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association (FCHEA), Harnessing American Power: Fuel Cell Impact Enabled by R&D, provides a snapshot of fuel cells in municipal applications, such as wastewater treatment plants and microgrids, as well as an overview of recent public-sector deployments in the U.S.

Fuel cells are playing a vital role in keeping community operations running as more municipalities are integrating them into critical facilities. The result of investments in research and development (R&D), by both the public and private sector, fuel cells are now providing clean, reliable power and ensuring a range of services remain online during emergencies. A new report from the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association (FCHEA), Harnessing American Power: Fuel Cell Impact Enabled by R&D, provides a snapshot of fuel cells in municipal applications, such as wastewater treatment plants and microgrids, as well as an overview of recent public-sector deployments in the U.S.

Fuel cells offer a unique combination of benefits - clean, reliable, on-demand power generation; fuel flexibility with ability to utilize pure hydrogen, natural gas or renewable biogas; silent operation; and scalability, making them ideally suited for a variety of applications. As in the private sector, where the technology is being deployed at data centers, retail sites, warehouses, cellular towers, distribution centers and more, fuel cells are showing tremendous value at municipal facilities across the country.

Local governments, cities and state agencies are already using fuel cells to run city halls, public buildings, communications networks, wastewater treatment plants and transit buses, and are starting to configure fuel cells into microgrids to ensure reliable, efficient power to citizens and critical outlets such as fire, police and emergency medical services (EMS) in the case of an emergency.

"Staying connected is more important than ever, and services we all rely on during emergencies such as first responder networks, police and fire stations, and hospitals need to stay online, no matter what," said FCHEA President, Morry B. Markowitz. "Fuel cells are a proven reliable and efficient technology, resulting in more and more municipal customers integrating them into microgrids and other facilities for resilient and constant power."

The publicly-available report can be downloaded free of charge at http://www.fchea.org/s/Business-Case.pdf.