Fuel Cell Technologies At Euston Station

It is good to see further examples of decarbonisation technologies in use on the UK rail network. Although only a trial at this stage, this latest venture is an emission free solution for creating electricity for charging equipment at Euston Station on the HS2 project.

Mace Dragados Joint Venture, the construction team building HS2's new Euston station, is using "the H-Power Tower" - a fuel cell based generator supplied by AFC Energy, to charge a fully electric JCB telehandler, lighting towers and a water pump on site.

Fuel cells can be used to produce electricity by converting separate hydrogen and oxygen supplies (the latter usually being in the form of air) across an electrochemical cell. This is not a flame combustion, and thus there are no nitrous oxide (NOx) emissions, the emissions typically being just water and heat. They are also generally much quieter than conventional generators.