STATIONARY POWER
Australia’s first commercial hydrogen fuel cell backup for the mobile network
CLIENT
Telstra
SECTOR
Telecommunications backup power
LOCATION
Regional Victoria, Australia
AT A GLANCE
5
SITES DEPLOYED
10 kW
AC OUTPUT PER UNIT (FCG10)
0
DIRECT EMISSIONS IN OPERATION
2024
DELIVERY & COMMISSIONING
THE BRIEF
Keep remote sites running, without diesel.
Regional mobile towers are among the first infrastructure to fail in a storm. When the June 2021 storms took out grid power across Victoria, communities lost mobile coverage precisely when they needed it most — during the emergency.
Telstra set out to replace diesel backup generators at its most exposed regional sites with a cleaner, high-performance alternative. The sites were remote and off-grid during outages, environmentally sensitive, and mission-critical: the systems had to start automatically, provide 72 hours of back-up power, and carry the tower without interruption. The programme was supported by the Victorian Government's Renewable Hydrogen Commercialisation Pathways Fund to trial renewable hydrogen in place of diesel across five mobile sites.
The engineering challenge: deliver dependable, zero-emissions backup power in harsh, remote conditions — with no compromise on safety or reliability.
What Energys delivered
ENERGYS’ SCOPE
Energys developed a standardised 10 kW PEM hydrogen fuel cell power system in-house as an end-to-end telecommunications-grade product, then led its manufacture, multi-site rollout, regulatory engagement, commissioning and ongoing operational support.
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System design and engineering of the FCG10 hydrogen fuel cell generator
Integration of fuel cell, battery, power electronics and hydrogen storage into a single deployable unit
Hazardous area design and safety compliance for remote, unattended operation
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The systems were manufactured and assembled at Energys’ facilities undergoing rigorous testing to ensure the highest quality and performance standards.
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Ongoing scheduled maintenance and cloud-based performance monitoring across all five sites.
2025
Project of the Year
ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA EXCELLENCE AWARDS
THE SYSTEM
10 kW Fuel Cell Power Systems
Multiple 10 kW PEM hydrogen fuel cell power systems, developed in-house as a standardised end-to-end telecommunications-grade product.
System architecture incorporates high-pressure Type IV Carbon Fibre Composite hydrogen storage providing 72 hours of backup power, hydrogen handling systems, a compact fuel cell power system package with a footprint of 2.2 m2 that houses balance-of-plant, a 15 kW PEM Fuel Cell stack, a 6 kWh LiFePO4 battery and automatic transfer capability.
Deployed across 5 sites in Victoria including remote installations.
