GHG Emissions, Industrial, Sourcing Renewables  -  January 23, 2025

Panasonic Installs Hydrogen-Based RE Power Generation System

Panasonic announced the installation of an in-house hydrogen-based renewable energy power generation system at its U.K. factory.

The electronics company announced that it began a trial operation of a demonstration power generation system at Panasonic Manufacturing UK Ltd. in Cardiff, Wales, U.K. (PMUK) which develops, manufactures, and sells microwave ovens and other products. 

The system will integrate and control three types of energy sources: pure hydrogen fuel cell generators using green hydrogen in combination with photovoltaic generators and storage batteries.

Panasonic will use the heat generated during the pure hydrogen fuel cell generation of the air conditioning system at its U.K. factory to preheat water for the heating operation for its AC system. 

PMUK will increase resilience by efficiently generating and storing only the amount of electricity required on-site. Additionally, it will establish an energy management system (EMS) that tracks changes in the factory's electricity demand and weather changes.

The EMS will begin operation by the end of March 2025 and provide a stable supply of renewable energy to the microwave oven assembly factory.

PMUK installed 21 units of 5 kW pure hydrogen fuel cell generators as part of a distributed system optimized for the amount of electricity used in its microwave oven assembly factory. In combination with 372 kW photovoltaic generators and 1 MWh storage batteries, PMUK aims to operate the system to supply the necessary electricity from 100% renewable energy. 

The integrated control of 21 pure hydrogen fuel cell generators will level out the operating hours of each unit and improve maintainability, allowing for uninterrupted maintenance. 

By using green hydrogen produced in the U.K., the electricity used in the microwave oven assembly factory will be decarbonized. To power the microwave oven assembly factory, the photovoltaic power generation system for the demonstration uses an output of 372 kW, a portion of the total 760 kW output from photovoltaic power generators installed on the roof of the PMUK building last year.