Rolls-Royce role grows in NE Ohio fuel cell sector
Added presence, potential expansion at U.S. HQ in North Canton surprises even company officials
Walking through the Fuel Cell Prototyping Center at Stark State College of Technology, a visitor can see how the college originally planned to divvy up the space for several fuel cell companies.
The school’s plans changed, however, when the U.S. headquarters of Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems moved in.
The subsidiary of the English jet engine maker not only fills the whole building, but it will lease more space in the center once the college finishes an expansion financed in part by a $3 million grant from the Third Frontier program, the state’s $1.6 billion, technology-focused economic development initiative.
Plus, Rolls-Royce is in talks with state officials about possibly expanding its local presence further, said Mark Fleiner, CEO of the U.S. subsidiary. He would not give details other than to say the company also is in talks with officials in England and Singapore, both of which already house some of Rolls-Royce’s development efforts related to fuel cells.
Even without the expansions, Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems already is one of Ohio’s biggest fuel cell companies with 45 employees, 35 of whom are full time. On top of that, a few other companies have started small fuel cell operations nearby, to make North Canton a focal point within Ohio’s emerging fuel cell industry.
Rolls-Royce’s local expansion has more than surprised Mr. Fleiner. He said if someone two years ago would have told him that the company would fill the current Fuel Cell Prototyping Center by now, he wouldn’t have believed them.
“I would’ve been shocked,” Mr. Fleiner said.
Building momentum
Back then, Rolls-Royce’s U.S. fuel cell operation still was new. It wasn’t until October 2006, just after the prototyping center was built, that Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems announced it would open its U.S. headquarters in North Canton.
At the time, Rolls-Royce was focused on developing fuel processors that would attach to stationary solid oxide fuel cells, which electric utilities would use to help generate power. However, in April 2007, Rolls-Royce acquired SOFCo-EFS Holdings LLC, a solid oxide fuel cell developer in Alliance with which Rolls-Royce had worked. With that company came expertise and intellectual property related to the fuel cell itself, which combines hydrogen and oxygen to create electricity and water.
Though the company since has expanded its efforts to develop its fuel cell system, not everything has gone as expected. Rolls-Royce had planned to work with American Electric Power Co. of Columbus to test its fuel cell system on the power grid sometime in 2009, but in January Rolls-Royce announced the project would be postponed due to the worldwide credit crunch.
Rolls-Royce is still intent on growing its fuel cell development efforts, but cautiously, Mr. Fleiner said.
“If we had more money and more resources, possibly we could go faster,” he said.
The company’s development operation will continue growing once construction is finished on the Fuel Cell Prototyping Center, which will expand from roughly 25,000 square feet to about 37,000 square feet, Mr. Fleiner said. The additions, driven partly by Rolls-Royce’s desire to expand, will include a high-bay testing room, an outdoor testing area that will expose Rolls-Royce’s fuel cell system to the elements, and a classroom where Stark State instructors will teach students interested in working with fuel cells.
The college also is adding a fuel cell laboratory that will be used by other companies. Both Lockheed Martin and Cleveland-based fuel cell company Contained Energy already are using campus facilities for fuel cell projects.
The existence of facilities designed for fuel cell companies and students training to be fuel cell technicians should help Stark State continue attracting fuel cell companies to its campus, but the presence of a big name such as Rolls-Royce plays a major role as well, said Dennis Trenger, executive director of fuel cell technology and academic outreach at the college.
“That is really the magnet,” Mr. Trenger said.
Building the fuel cell industry
Meanwhile, the state of Ohio has its own magnet: the Third Frontier program.
Mr. Fleiner said the portion of money the state carved out for fuel cell projects was the deciding factor that caused Rolls-Royce to choose Ohio for its development center over Michigan, which had a broadly focused program aimed at financing the development of advanced energy technologies.
“It’s building the foundation of the industry,” he said.
The Ohio Department of Development has been pleased with Rolls-Royce’s development so far, said John Griffin, director of the technology and innovation division for the department.
The company has provided the state with what Mr. Griffin described as a “double payoff,” in that it is creating high-tech jobs while providing opportunities for Stark State students to gain experience in a growing industry.
He noted that Stark State’s campus has become a key piece of Ohio’s fuel cell industry.
“But the state will never be satisfied with just that. We want more. We want it statewide,” Mr. Griffin said.
Bob Rose, executive director of the U.S. Fuel Cell Council, said the state of Ohio is an up-and-coming player in the fuel cell industry, but it has a long way to go to catch up with areas such as Connecticut, which is home to both United Technologies Corp. and FuelCell Energy Inc. Both companies have plants that employ hundreds of people who make and sell fuel cells.
Ohio can get to that point, Mr. Rose said. Rolls-Royce’s presence should help, he added, given the company’s size, its name and the interest in using solid oxide fuel cells to help improve the efficiency of the power grid.
