relevant capital cost is the marginal expense between the dSet ivr lei nl ogp ee nr g- i nBeGu inni tt haen dUaK c- oannvneonut inocnian lg baogi l er er .e W i t h o n l y o n e ments to serial produce such units at !his stage, and no such products yet available on the market, !his cost is difficult to assess, but could be under US$1000/kW. Fuel costs may also be surprisingly low. The thermal eafbfoicvieenc7y0%of. TsohmiseisSctiorlminpgaeranbglienewsithhas been reported at many older domestic bbooiilleerr;s,noanidncirneacsaeseisn wgahserceonSstiurling engines replace such a mption would be seen - in terms of capital cost, Stirling engines are likely to be sold into the residential heating market, displacing sales of conventional gas-fired boilers. O c e o f t f s h e t e c s t r i v ti o erl ye lreecstur li ct iint yg pi nr ondou cf tui eo ln . mportant factors to take a g in s r t i o d ai nctceor cuon tn naer ec t i ionns t caol i asttsi o na sa nwde l i maintenance costs. Again, the m g aasr gbi on ai l el rcoi nsst toavl l aetri ocno navnedn t i o n a l m c fi o g aui rnet etnoa cn oc nes ii sd et rh. eB raesleedv aonnt a mbination of manufacturers' expectations and esti mates, a low case scenario of a marginal capital cost of $1 000/kW and replacement of a boiler with the same thermal efficiency as the Stirling engine could see Flgure 1. Llfetlme dlscounts for a UTC PC25 fuel cell. electri city production costs of under US9 cents/kWh, easily competitive with retail residential electricity prices across ml e voes tl i zoefdEeul reocpt er i c. i t( yC aplrcoudl au tci ot i on sn ci no s! ht si st aakr itni cgl ei nat or e abcacsoeudn t u p o n capital, instaliation, operation and maintenance and fuel costs). si teisnsiimtivpeorttoantht eton naotuteret hoaf tththeesinestcaollsattsioanr ein ptaerrticularly ms of the aofnnthueal brouilnenrindgishpolaucresdo. fMthoereSotvirelring engine and the efficiency , this price assumes significant progress being made on interconnection costs which currently amount to as much as $2500 in the UK, although new connection arrangements are expected to be brought forward shortly which wili lower this cost. With BG planning to launch its Stirling engine in the UK next MAKALE / ARTICLE yaenadr,Saignd other developers such as WhisperTech, Enatec ma Elektroteknisk reportedly close to market, the next few years wili see whether these units can compete as envisaged. FUELCELLS aFcoirdffuueel lcceelllsi ,reUTC Fuel Cell's PC25C 200 kW phosphoric mains the only product that is widely available a fuli ten years after it was launched. in 1996, the mkWanbuyfa2c0tu0r0e,r sbheoliuelvdesdufthfiactiepnrticveoslucould fail to under $ 1 700/ mes be achieved. fHaol lwe ne vsei gr , nwi f ii ct ha notvl ye. rA2l 3t h0o uu gn iht sost hoel dr tfou edl act ee ,l i t theec hp nr ioc leo ghi ae ss naor et likely to overtake phosphoric acid fuel celis, examining the instaliation of a PC25C in Switzerland shows the importance of taking into account ali cost elements in evaluating the overali cost-effectiveness of fuel celi applications. SpawrtisosfuatilditiystAriEctB-hpeuartcinhgassecdhea PC25C in 1 999, to operate as m f u eel cienli Bitasseelfl ,- Sf uwl iiytzpearlcaknadg. eTdh, e ji un sctl uudni ndge rh e$ a4t5 0r e0c/ koWv e rayn-d cwo sats e il n n n s s c t t a l a o l l i s i e a u d t r i o e i n n b a a e n n s d id o e ou t t a h d e o s o r c r hool. a e(i d n n f d g o i i t n r io enear iln$g2c0o0s0t/skWa dtdoetdhea ncost mation supplied by Stephan Renz of Thoma and Renz Consulting). BJ uassteudnudpeor n8 0e0x0p ehr ioeunrcse pteor d a t e - annum operation since going ol i fnel si npea ni n, Aa nudg uas tg 2a 0s 0c0o, sat ot ef n2 y e a r For fuel cells, UTC Fuel Cell's PC25C 200 kW phosphoric acid fuel cell remains the only product that is widely available a full ten years after it was launched. c1 e5nctse/nktWs/hkW- hle-vesleizeedFigeulercetr1ic.itTyhpisrocdouction costs lie around mpares with the gp roi wd -esru sp pp il li ieedd rbeat ac ikl porni ct oe tohfe 1 gO r icde on tf s7/ k. 5Wche an tnsd/ kpWr i ch e. Spuabi ds i fdoi er s and environmental drivers helped bridge this economic gap for AEB. Without these, or other drivers such as security of supply and power quality, economic applications of fuel celis today are restricted to a very smali number of niches. ECOGENERATION WORLD 37
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