Caterpillar Recognized by U.S. Department of Energy's Hydrogen Program for Backup Power Solution Using Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology at Microsoft Data Center

For Worldwide Release: October 2024

IRVING, TEXAS – Caterpillar Inc. today announced that its collaboration with Microsoft and Ballard Power Systems on a data center power solution using a large-format hydrogen fuel cell earned the top honor in the “Systems Development and Integration” category at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Hydrogen Program 2024 Annual Merit Review Awards.

Presented at the 2024 Annual Merit Review and Peer Evaluation Meeting, the awards recognize contributions to overall program efforts and highlight research, development, and demonstration achievements in specific disciplines.

The award was accepted by Paul Wang, Ph.D., senior engineering project team lead for Caterpillar, who represented a team of more than 50 engineers demonstrating the viability of large-format hydrogen fuel cells for supplying reliable backup power for data centers. The project simulated a 48-hour backup power event at Microsoft's data center in Cheyenne, Wyoming, using two Cat® Power Grid Stabilization (PGS) 1260 battery energy storage systems and a 1.5 MW hydrogen fuel cell.

The demonstration provided valuable insights into the capabilities of fuel cell systems to power multi-megawatt data centers, ensuring uninterrupted power supply to meet 99.999% uptime requirements.

Caterpillar led the project, providing overall system integration, power electronics, and microgrid controls that form the central structure of the hydrogen power solution. Microsoft hosted the demonstration project, while Ballard supplied an advanced hydrogen fuel cell module.

Backed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the demonstration is supported and partially funded by the DOE’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office under the H2@Scale initiative.

“This award from the DOE validates how our advanced technologies, industry expertise and collaborative approach are helping customers meet their climate-related objectives,” said Jaime Mineart, senior vice president of Caterpillar Electric Power.

Caterpillar’s hydrogen-fuel power technologies also include a range of commercially available generator sets configured to operate on natural gas blended with up to 25% hydrogen by volume. The company is leading a project with Minnesota-based District Energy St. Paul to demonstrate a hydrogen-fueled combined heat and power (CHP) system.

Beyond the company’s hydrogen power solutions, Caterpillar continues to invest in new products, technologies and services to help customers achieve their climate-related objectives. These include Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS) software solutions for monitoring, managing, and monetizing on-site energy assets; a full hybrid energy solutions technology suite; Cat CHP systems and combined cooling, heat and power (CCHP) systems; support for hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), biodiesel, and blended fuel products; and solutions expertise in landfill gas, biogas and other waste-to-energy applications.

Caterpillar, along with its global Cat dealer network, helps customers meet uptime commitments at thousands of data center facilities worldwide, offering highly responsive power solutions and expertise in specification, installation, commissioning and service.

For more information, visit cat.com/hydrogen.