Netherlands renter Bredenoord launches fuel cell generator

Netherlands power rental company Bredenoord has developed a hydrogen fuel cell powered generator and has started to rent it at events and other sites in the Benelux area.

The company's Purity generator has an output of 4 kW, is mobile, and has no damaging emissions such as CO2, particulate matter, soot, NOx. It is also as quiet as a laptop, said the company. The unit can run for 30 hours on a single set of hydrogen tanks.

The generator incorporates a stack of 60 fuel cells that are half a centimeter thick. Through an electrochemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen from the air, the fuel cells produce electricity, heat and water. The unit uses hydrogen as its fuel.

Bredenoord spent a year and a half developing the generator with fuel cell specialists Exendis and Nedstack, and launched the prototype at the Energie Beurs exhibition in the Netherlands late last year. The first production version was rented to power a large tent at the Lowlands Festival in the Netherlands on 21 August.

Bredenoord's managing director, Jaap Fluit, said; "In the future customers will be confronted with fossil fuels that become increasingly scarce and expensive. At that moment we will be ready with the solution. Bredenoord is the first to offer sustainable products for festivals, events and industry."

The company is also working with a consortium with Nedstack and others that is working on a bigger prototype called the Uniflex, which can use both hydrogen and bio-ethanol as fuel. The Uniflex is expected to be launched in November.

Family-owned Bredenoord is the largest power rental company company in the Netherlands and also has offices in Germany and Denmark. It has a fleet of over 2000 generators, and also develops tailor made products for customers, such as biogas CHP (combined heat and power).