Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corp. has signed with National Electrification Administration a memorandum of understanding on jointly developing a project that will use hydrogen as fuel for generating electricity in the Philippines.
Under the MOU, Toshiba ESS and NEA will study the installation site, the optimum system specifications in the Philippines, and the operation system, including maintenance of the former’s proprietary H2One technology.
According to Toshiba ESS, the pact with NEA will accelerate business prospects for solutions to energy-related challenges in the Philippines.
Toshiba ESS said H2One was an integrated system that uses a renewable energy source to electrolyze water to produce hydrogen, which is then stored and used in fuel cells to provide stable delivery of “carbon dioxide-free” electricity as well as hot water.
H2One is a distributed energy system that allows the supply of stable energy, without influence from the weather, to islands that currently rely on diesel and other generating systems such as thermal power.
“I’m confident that our expertise and know-how as a leading supplier of integrated energy solutions will help realize a sustainable society with distributed energy resources for each island,” Toshiba ESS corporate senior vice president Fumio Otani said in a statement.
Toshiba ESS noted that their technology would be especially helpful as the Philippines seeks solutions for remote islands with low electrification rates, and ways to reduce risk from typhoons and other natural disasters.
The company has been conducting a survey project to develop applications for the H2One in remote islands in the Philippines as well as Indonesia, as identified by the Japanese government.
The Philippine government aims to achieve universal electrification by 2020, with 9 percent or about 2 million of some 23 million households still not energized.
The use of hydrogen will add to a portfolio of alternative technologies that help in bringing electricity to unserved and underserved communities, which are currently dominated by solar photovoltaic systems.