Brazil uses fuel cells to supplement utility power

Growing electric loads and the dearth of new power plants have created severe worldwide power shortages, as well as a crisis in the nation of Brazil. Analysis and modeling has shown that the crisis could be relieved in a fast and practical manner by placing fuel cells at optimum locations and carefully scheduling their operation. Acquiring the needed data for the model and optimizing the model took a lot of effort. For example, the time when the peak load occurs varies among the types of power consumers. In some residential neighborhoods of Brazil, the peak load occurs when people shower with electrically-heated water. There the fuel cells can be best located where their heat losses can be used to heat water.