DTE Energy Co. (Detroit, MI) has opened the doors to its $3 million Hydrogen Technology Park at 11 Mile and Inkster roads in Southfield. The open-area demonstration project boasts solar rays, 10 fuel cells, a Stirling engine, a switch gear, a hydrogen generator, a chiller, hydrogen storage tanks and a hydrogen fuel tank.

DTE partnered with the US Department of Energy (DOE, Washington, DC), the state of Michigan and the city of Southfield to develop, build and operate the project, which will create hydrogen gas from tap water and use that gas in fuel cell generators and to refuel vehicles powered by the cells. The new tech park is capable of delivering 100,000 kWh of electricity a year, enough to power a small office complex and several fuel cell vehicles a day.

The cost for the project was shared equally by DTE and the DOE as part of President Bush’s Hydrogen Fuel Initiative that will invest $1.7 billion over five years on research and development of alternative-energy technologies.