Ammonia-powered EV charging in Israel
By on April 12, 2022
GenCell Energy and Israeli automotive importer EV Motors have deployed their first off-grid, hydrogen & ammonia-fueled EV charging station in Netanya, Israel. Based on GenCell’s existing ammonia-fed, alkaline fuel cell systems, the partners hope to deploy a network of off-grid charging stations in both the Israeli and Chinese markets (an MoU to that effect was signed last November). GenCell and EV Motors expect demand for off-grid EV charging solutions to reach considerable levels, easing demand on national electricity grids as EVs become more popular.
As the number of electric vehicles increases, the demand for a wide network of distributed EV charging stations will grow exponentially. On the one hand, forecasts indicate that grid power will not be sufficient to power the estimated quantity of EVs that will reach the roads, and on the other, many destinations to which EVs will need to travel will be beyond the power grid. In both of these scenarios, autonomous off-grid EV charging stations powered by hydrogen and ammonia will be a key solution.
GenCell CEO Rami Rashef in the GenCell – EV Motors partnership announcement, 15 Nov 2021
Other GenCell updates: telecom towers, green ammonia synthesis
GenCell and Deutsche Telekom are working towards a field trial of GenCell’s off-grid backup systems for telecom towers. Both hydrogen-fed (GenCell BOX™) and ammonia-fed (GenCell FOX™) backup units will be trailed at DT sites. GenCell has prior success in this space to draw from: in June 2021 they and Icelandic national telecom provider Neyðarlínan ohf announced successful field trials of a similar backup unit near Reykjavik.
Also in February, TDK Corporation announced they would continue their investment in GenCell – a partnership which first began in 2020. The investment is to support R&D for GenCell’s green ammonia synthesis technology: a low-temperature, low-pressure system capable of producing ammonia from water and air.