Fuel cells are a clean source of reliable power which can be installed locally, freeing corporations of dependency on a central electricity grid. For much the same reasons hospitals represent another growth sector for fuel cell installation. 1.2 State of commercial fuel cell use Fuel cell commercialization is being driven by the developed world. The three key areas where advances are being made are in Japan, the United States, and in Europe. But even these three regions are at quite different stages of implementing fuel cell technology.
Japan leads the world in fuel cell implementation.
One of the chief factors in this is subsidy by the Japanese government of fuel cell research. This plant is due to run until 1997, and reliability has lead to the Tokyo Electric Power Company expressing interest in continued use of PAFC fuel cell technology in the 10MW range. However, a demonstration 1 MW MCFC powerplant will be completed this year. It is hoped this will lead to a demonstration 10-50 MW plant, with commercial implementation by 2005. The United States lags behind Japan in fuel cell implementation, but some major advances are being made in plant installation.