Air Products’ APD has supplied hydrogen fueling technology for a fleet of 25 hydrogen-powered forklifts at Kimberly-Clark Corporation’s KMB 450,000-square-foot distribution facility in Graniteville, South Caroline. The facility, located in Sage Mill Industrial Park, is managed by logistics provider GENCO ATC.
The hydrogen fueling station and its location allows several parties to benefit from the alternative energy effort and establish what is claimed to be the nation’s first multi-use industrial park fueling station to supply hydrogen from a single supply source directly for industrial, commercial and government use.
Project member Aiken County government in South Carolina will use the fueling station to fuel two hydrogen powered shuttle bus vehicles and a hydrogen-powered pick-up truck as part of its local transportation system.
“This project is a great example of how hydrogen fueling stations can benefit multiple users and differing types of vehicles at the same time “, said Bruce Luff, business development manager for Hydrogen Energy Systems at Air Products. “The location enables multiple parties to fill vehicles from a single supply system, and also provides the potential for other parties in this industrial park to tie into the station’s hydrogen supply”, he added.
The fueling station and hydrogen fuel cells that power the forklifts and vehicles were made possible through the use of $1.1 million of a $6.1 million cost-share award to GENCO ATC by the U.S. Department of Energy through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help accelerate the commercialization of hydrogen fuel cells.
Air Products will fuel the fleet of forklifts which are fitted with Plug Power’s GenDrive® hydrogen fuel cell power units. The GenDrive systems can be quickly refueled in less than five minutes, eliminating the need to change, store, charge and maintain multiple lead acid batteries per forklift.
By using GenDrive hydrogen fuel cells instead of lead-acid batteries to power its electric lift truck fleet, Kimberly-Clark Corporation can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90 percent.
Item compiled using information from an Air Products APD press release.
