A new facility that Toyota says is the first of its kind will produce renewable electricity, renewable hydrogen, and water from directed biogas for its logistics operations at the Port of Long Beach in California.

FuelCell Energy and Toyota Motor North America announced the completion of this “Tri-gen" system, which will enable Toyota Logistic Services Long Beach to be the company’s first port vehicle processing facility in the world powered by onsite-generated, 100% renewable energy.

The products produced by the Tri-gen system (which is owned and operated by FuelCell Energy) will be supplied to Toyota under a 20-year purchase agreement.

“By utilizing only renewable hydrogen and electricity production, TLS Long Beach will blaze a trail for our company,” said Chris Reynolds, chief administrative officer, Toyota. “Working with FuelCell Energy, together we now have a world-class facility that will help Toyota achieve its carbon reduction efforts, and the great news is this real-world example can be duplicated in many parts of the globe.”

Tri-gen Supports Toyota’s Port Facilities and Operations

FuelCell Energy’s fuel cell technology will support Toyota’s operations at the port, using an electrochemical process that converts directed renewable biogas sourced from agricultural waste into electricity, hydrogen, and usable water.

Tri-gen produces 2.3 megawatts of renewable electricity, part of which will be used by TLS Long Beach to support its operations at the port, which processes approximately 200,000 new Toyota and Lexus vehicles annually.

The FuelCell Energy Tri-gen system can produce up to 1,200 kg/day of hydrogen, which will provide for TLS Long Beach’s fueling needs for its incoming light-duty fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) Mirai, while also supplying hydrogen to the nearby heavy-duty hydrogen refueling station to support TLS logistics and drayage operations at the port. Hydrogen production can be ramped up and down based on needs/requirements.

In addition, 1,400 gallons of water will be co-produced per day from Tri-gen’s hydrogen production process and will be used by TLS Long Beach for car wash operations for vehicles that come into port prior to customer delivery. This will help decrease the use of constrained local water supplies by approximately half a million gallons per year.

By supporting TLS operations at the Port of Long Beach, Tri-gen’s carbon-neutral products are expected to reduce more than 9,000 tons of CO₂ emission from the power grid each year.

“Renewable hydrogen is an important fuel for the future of the Port of Long Beach and the shipping industry,” said Port of Long Beach CEO Mario Cordero. “The renewable hydrogen generated by the ‘Tri-gen’ system that Toyota commissioned, and similar projects, is part of our multi-strategy approach to help fuel the transition of equipment like locomotives, harbor craft, cargo-handling equipment and trucks to zero emissions.”

Tri-gen will also help to avoid more than 6 tons of grid NOx emissions, which are harmful to both people and the environment, and has the potential to reduce diesel consumption by more than 420,000 gallons per year by using hydrogen-powered fuel cell trucks in port operations.

Excess electricity not used by TLS will be delivered to the local utility, Southern California Edison, adding a renewable, resilient, and affordable baseload electric generation resource to the electric grid.

Toyota Long Beach Facility Nears Carbon Neutrality

The Tri-Gen facility is part of an overall renovation of the TLS Long Beach facility.

The Portal Truck / Heavy-Duty Vehicle Hydrogen Fueling Station will be part of a five-station heavy-duty fueling network for the Los Angeles basin that provides multiple sources of hydrogen throughout the region.

The Tri-generation (Tri-gen) Direct Fuel Cell Power Plant will supply the hydrogen to the fueling stations. Bio-gas sourced from agricultural waste will produce high-quality, 100% renewable hydrogen fuel for the Portal heavy-duty fuel cell electric trucks and FCEV Mirai.

At full utilization, Tri-gen is expected to produce 1.2 tons of renewable hydrogen daily, capable of supporting 10,000 Mirai processed by the port annually, and a fleet of 20 or more Class 8 fuel cell electric trucks operating drayage routes.