Thursday, October 16, 2008

Proton Energy wins $2.62M for hydrogen fuel cells for Army

By Mass High Tech Staff

Proton Energy Systems, a renewable hydrogen technology developer in Wallingford, Conn., has received a $2.62 million contract from the U.S. Army’s Engineer Research and Development Center to develop a regenerative fuel cell system, company officials said.

The resulting “Silent Camp” Operation, developed jointly by Proton and ERDC’s Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL), relies on hydrogen technology to replace diesel generators with efficient fuel cell generators in military base camps. In addition to efficient operations, the technology is designed also for safe logistical operation and backup power usage.

U.S. Senators Christopher Dodd and Joseph Lieberman helped secure funding for the project.

In August, Proton announced being bought from its parent company Distributed Energy Systems Corp. by F9 Investments LLC for $10.2 million. F9 Investments represents the private equity interests of Lumber Liquidators founder and chairman Tom Sullivan.

Proton Energy Systems develops PEM (proton exchange membrane) technology to produce hydrogen from water without generating any pollution, for transportation, power generation, industrial and research applications.