The Tokyo-based SoftBank Group plans to begin selling electricity, and the US-made fuel cells it will use for its new venture arrived in Fukuoka on Aug. 2. The cells will be installed at SoftBank’s offices in Sawara-ku and will be brought online within the year. Measuring 8 x 2.6 x 2.1 m, each unit runs on city gas and can generate enough energy to power 500 households. The same units have been installed at over 100 locations in the US, including the offices of companies like Google and Apple. A SoftBank subsidiary formed a joint venture with Bloom Energy Corp, the fuel cell’s American developer, to market the fuel cell technology in Japan. The new company, Bloom Energy Japan, plans to sell the units to municipal governments and hospitals as disaster-resistant distributed power sources. Nishinippon Shimbun, Aug. 3
Bloom fuel cells.
