June 7, 2004
Seeing the light: Hydrogen group touts Arizona as energy
hub
The Business Journal of Phoenix
Adam Kress
A Canadian alternative energy company is testing new technology in Tempe
while a local nonprofit supporting solar and hydrogen power tries to
lure that company and others to Arizona.
Solar Hydrogen Energy Corp. (SHEC), based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan,
Canada, has been testing its Solar Catalytic Hydrogen Generator at
Arizona Public Service Co. facilities under the heat of the desert sun.
The company has one employee here now and may relocate the entire
company or open a new office in the Valley this year.
The Solar Hydrogen Energy Alliance, a local chapter of the American
Hydrogen Association, is working with companies such as SHEC to bring
them to Arizona and hopefully create an alternative energy hub in a
state with an abundance of sunny days.
The SHEC technology being field-tested at the APS Solar Test and
Research Facility has the potential to soak up the ruthless Arizona sun
and create energy pollution-free.
The tests began last week and will continue for a few more. Tests were
done for temperature fluctuations, solar tracking capabilities,
hydrogen output and general system reliability. The data will be used
to improve the design of future systems, which will be built on a much
larger scale.
SHEC President Tom Beck said this technology has been developed since
the company was founded in 1996, and this is its first testing outside
of Canada. The testing here and in Canada has been successful thus far,
and Arizona was the logical place to come, he said.
"The American Southwest is prime real estate for solar harvesting, and
this area could become a major energy producer for North America," Beck
said. "We're planning to open an office down here and it could be this
year."
While SHEC's goal is to sell the generators on a large scale to
utilities, the company has existing markets in the fertilizer and crude
oil industries. The two are the largest consumers of hydrogen, Beck
said, and this hydrogen could be produced less expensively than many
other alternatives.
"We're trying to get the shortest pay back on investing in this
technology and in Arizona, I think we can do it in five years," he
said. "The cost is up-front, but after five years, the energy would be
free."
As SHEC tests its equipment here, the Solar Hydrogen Energy Alliance is
working to bring similar alternative energy companies to Arizona.
"We want companies like SHEC to grow here first and California and New
Mexico second," said Keith Thompson, a member of the alliance. "We're
working with one other foreign company and one American company in
bringing them to Arizona."
The alliance, Thompson said, also is beginning to work with state and
university leaders in creating a critical mass of alternative energy
companies in Arizona. Beck has visited with representatives from
Arizona State University, the Arizona Department of Commerce and
various Valley cities.
"We're looking for R&D partners and to line up other pilot
demonstrations," Beck said. "There seems to be a lot of interest
here."
Thompson agreed.
"I think interest in alternative power is awakening here," he said. "The
gas prices are forcing people to think more about it."
APS, for one, has shown enough interest in alternative energy to host
SHEC's testing, but a company official said bringing solar/hydrogen
power to the masses still is a ways off.
Herb Hayden, APS' solar program coordinator, said the utility could
potentially buy into technology such as SHEC's, but taking that sort of
new process to market takes years of testing.
"Over the next few weeks we are going to give them a realistic
assessment of where they are with the technology and how to get to the
next step," Hayden said. "It's a long way from being something major,
but we'd sure like to see it go that way."
Get connected
Arizona Public Service:
www.aps.com.
Solar Hydrogen Energy Corp.:
www.shec-labs.com.
Solar Hydrogen Energy Alliance:
www.solarhydrogenalliance.org.
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