Next step for MEGAMIE
24 June 2020Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS), now Mitsubishi Power, reports that a second MEGAMIE hybrid installation – consisting of solid oxide fuel cell combined with micro gas turbine – has gone into commercial operation. The order for this facility was received in April 2019 from Hazama Ando Corporation and the pressurised hybrid power generation system is now in operation at the Hazama Ando research institute in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture. It is being used as a distributed generation system to support the Hazama Ando next-generation energy project, says Mitsubishi.
MEGAMIE hybrid (solid oxide fuel cell plus micro gas turbine) distributed generation system at Hazama Ando’s Tsukuba research institute (source: Hazama Ando Corporation)
This second commercial MEGAMIE combined heat and power system uses city gas as fuel initially, subsequently switching to hydrogen fuel, with zero CO2 emissions. The project also includes a gas engine capable of running on a hydrogen fuel mixture and large-capacity sodium-sulphur batteries.
Hazama Ando’s next-generation energy project is focused on in-house low carbon distributed generation for the company’s various locations. In August 2018, the project was adopted by Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) as a lead project for sustainable buildings.
MEGAMIE hybrid (solid oxide fuel cell plus micro gas turbine) distributed generation system at Hazama Ando’s Tsukuba research institute (source: Hazama Ando Corporation)
The first MEGAMIE system to enter commercial operation was an in-house cogeneration facility for Mitsubishi Estate Co, Ltd’s Marunouchi Building in Tokyo. It started up in February 2019 and has “continued to operate stably” since.
Looking to the future, Mitsubishi says it “will continue to actively promote the widespread adoption of commercial and industrial-use fuel cells.”