The new site in Hamakawasaki, just outside Kawasaki City, will be equipped with Toshiba’s advanced fuel cell production technology which helps streamline processes and reduce production costs.
Tenfold rise in production capacity
The new research and manufacturing facility at Hamakawasaki can scale up to approximately ten times the current production capacity, subject to product demand. Hydrogen, supplied at low cost via pipeline from a nearby electrolyzer, will be used for inspections and experiments related to fuel cell production.
Toshiba’s latest H2Rex technology is a clean generator that emits only water. The pure hydrogen fuel cell system has been developed from decades of research dating back to the 1960s.
Fuel cells generate electricity through electrochemical reactions between the stored hydrogen and atmospheric oxygen. Fuel Cell Stacks are comprised of multiple unit cells which are composed of positive electrode, negative electrode, and electrolytes in-between both types of electrodes.
Over 120 H2Rex units sold
Toshiba ESS has already sold and delivered over 120 units ‘H2Rex’ pure hydrogen fuel cell systems. Customers are wholesale food markets, hotels, convenience stores, and sports facilities.
In China, Toshiba has entered a partnership to develop fuel cell system and stacks with a local startup called More Hydrogen Energy Technology Co.“We are working towards expansion of our cell stack technology in the Chinese market,” said Yoshihisa Sanagi, General Manager of the Hydrogen Energy Business Division at Toshiba ESS.
By deploying hydrogen energy technology at scale, Toshiba seeks to “contribute to the growth and maturation of renewable energy sources worldwide,” he concluded.