Toyota and Telstra pivot into hydrogen fuel cell generators for off grid sites

Toyota Australia has announced a $3 million tilt at the stationary hydrogen fuel cell power generator market, in a deal with France-based EODev to assemble and distribute its fuel cell technology from Melbourne.

The partnership, announced on Friday, will see Toyota Australia invest $3.27 million to assemble EODev’s GEH2 power generators at its former manufacturing facility at Altona, starting in the first quarter of 2024.

Toyota will also be the Australian distributor for both locally assembled and fully built EODev GEH2 generators, sold in Australia through retail off-grid power solutions partner Blue Diamond Machinery, and will export the generators to New Zealand.

Toyota’s Altona plant already houses a hydrogen production facility and refuelling station, which was installed in 2021 ahead of the arrival on the local market of the automaker’s second generation Mirai FCEV.

The Japanese auto giant’s stubbourn – some say bizarre – obsession with hydrogen fuelled cars has had negligible success, while at the the same time putting the world’s biggest car maker at the very back of the global race to battery electric vehicles.

And while new CEO Koji Sato seems to be trying to turn that ship around, with an “EV-first” mindset, he has also stressed that hydrogen will continue to play a key role in Toyota’s strategy for achieving carbon neutrality.

For the company’s Australian subsidiary, the also slightly bizarre pivot to hydrogen fuel cell power generators might offer renewed purpose for the Altona facility’s 200-kilowatt electrolyser, which is powered by an on-site 84kW solar array and a 100kW battery.

“Toyota fully supports the Australian federal and state governments’ drive in growing our hydrogen economy and is committed to exploring opportunities for our fuel cell technology well beyond its automotive use,” said Toyota Australia president and CEO Matthew Callachor on Friday.

“This agreement signed today is not about a trial or pilot program, it is about concrete action that will improve Australian businesses’ access to stationary hydrogen fuel cell generators and help them reduce their carbon footprint.

“At the same time, our investment will help to build Australian skills and capabilities in hydrogen technologies in what is a rapidly growing industry that will help Australia meet its emission reduction targets.”

EODev CEO Jérémie Lagarrigue says the company’s GEH2 generator is currently sold across Europe, North America and the Middle East.

In Australia, Lagarrigue says there is “fast growing potential” for the use of the low emissions technology, which ranges from helping to power mining sites, construction sites and – ironically –battery EV charging sites.

Meanwhile, another even less likely big corporate player has also made a push into hydrogen fuel cell generators, backed by funding support from the Victorian state government.

Victoria’s energy minister, Lily D’Ambrosio said on Friday that the government had tipped more than $1.1 million into a pilot being conducted by Australian telecom giant Telstra to use hydrogen fuel cell generators to boost energy resilience for its mobile network.

D’Ambrosio says the project will deploy a 10kW renewable hydrogen generator at five regional locations – Coldstream, Kinglake, Christmas Hills, Chum Creek, and Neerim North – to “allow continuous operation of site load and mobile
connectivity when mains power outages occur.”

The idea, the minister says, is to demonstrate the reliability of renewable hydrogen as a zero-emissions back-up power alternative to diesel, offering up to 72 hours of power.

“This innovative project uses renewable energy to keep the power running during an emergency, helping to maintain vital telecommunications, which is critical as we encounter more frequent extreme weather events,” D’Ambrosio said.

Telstra’s group executive for global networks and technology, Nikos Katinakis, said the pilot would provide the telco with “valuable data and experience” of the emerging hydrogen fuel cell technology and how it may help to power telecommunications.