The fuelling station, which is located in Sage Mill Industrial Park in Graniteville, a small town in the US state of South Carolina, supplies hydrogen directly to Kimberly-Clark's 450,000-square-foot distribution facility in the park.
The hydrogen will be used in fuel cells powering Toyota forklifts, said Genco ATC, which manages the facility.
“Kimberly-Clark is constantly looking for innovative ways to minimize the impact of our operations on the environment,” said Rick Sather, Vice President of Customer Supply Chain at Kimberly-Clark. “We are pleased to partner with GENCO ATC, Plug Power and Air Products to help expand hydrogen fuel cell technology to our entire forklift fleet. This energy technology can reduce our carbon emissions by hundreds of metric tons per year, lower costs and drive efficiencies to power our operations.”
The fuelling station and hydrogen-powered forklifts were made possible through the use of $1.1 million of a $6.1 million cost-share award made to Genco ATC by the US Dept. of Energy through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
“GENCO ATC is committed to green technology initiatives that are viable, equitable and sustainable for our customers and our company,” said Herb Shear, Chairman and CEO, GENCO ATC. “Hydrogen fuel cells represent the best in energy innovation as a sustainable, productive and clean alternative to lead-acid batteries.”
The supply chain industry estimates that annual greenhouse gas emissions created by an average 20-truck lead acid battery-powered forklift fleet can be reduced by hundreds of tons a year simply by converting to fuel cell-powered equipment.
By using hydrogen fuel cells instead of lead-acid batteries, greenhouse gases can be reduced by over 90 percent, according to customer consumption estimates.
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