7.5.2003
Dow to use GM fuel cells

Dow Chemical Company, the world's largest chemical manufacturer, and GM have reached initial understanding on the world's largest fuel cell transaction to date.

This transaction will allow GM to commercialize its hydrogen fuel cell technology to generate electricity from hydrogen created as a co-product at Dow's operations in Freeport, Texas. The 30-square-mile complex in Freeport, 65 miles east of Houston, is Dow's largest manufacturing facility.

If tests proceed according to plan, Dow could eventually use up to 35 megawatts of power generated by 500 GM fuel cell units on an ongoing basis. This is enough electricity to power 25,000 homes for a year and is more than 15 times bigger than any other known fuel cell transaction.

The test is expected to begin later this year and run through 2005, with plans to commercialize starting in 2006. Dow and GM teams are currently working to remove the final hurdles for placing the fuel cells in Dow's chemical manufacturing facility. A final agreement between the two industrial giants is expected to be signed in the next few months.

"This is a significant milestone - not only from a technology and business perspective, but from an environmental one as well," says Bill Jewell, Dow's Business Vice President of Energy. If the tests are successful, Dow could become the largest user of fuel cell generated electricity in the world.

Larry Burns, GM Vice President of Research and Development and Planning, and Peter Molinaro, Global Leader of Climate Change for Dow, jointly announced the arrangement today in Washington DC.

"While this is a milestone event," Burns said, "and it points to a growing interest among businesses in using fuel cells to power factories and buildings, the most compelling reason for GM to collaborate with Dow is ultimately to reduce the cost of fuel cells and improve their durability so we may put them in cars by the end of the decade."

Though Texas is the first place where Dow and GM will test this technology, the two companies are already discussing the use of fuel cells to convert hydrogen to electricity in other Dow locations in the US and Europe.

"Using hydrogen to generate electricity is no longer reserved for spacecraft," said Dow's Molinaro. "This collaboration can place us at the threshold of common use of fuel cells to power significant portions of our economy. We are very excited about this collaboration with General Motors and about what it could mean in the pursuit of greater energy diversity, ultimately leading to a hydrogen economy."

"This is a small but significant step on the path to a more sustainable energy future," Molinaro stated.

"We applaud this move by Dow to be a fuel cell pioneer and to explore new technologies that lead to a more sustainable energy profile," Burns added.

The Dow-GM opportunity typifies the type of creative deals that will arise in the new Hydrogen Economy.