An under-construction perishable distribution centre of Walmart Canada has taken delivery of a fleet of fuel cell-powered PC 4500 pallet trucks from Crown Equipment Corp.

The newly designed equipment was delivered to the discount retailer's new centre in the hamlet of Balzac near Calgary in the province of Alberta and should become operational by September.

Working closely with the end-user, New Bremen, Ohio-based Crown created a new version of the Crown PC 4500 Series centre-control pallet truck to accommodate GenDrive fuel cells from Plug Power Inc of Latham, New York. The PC 4500 can operate in conditions as cold as negative 20° Fahrenheit (-29° Celsius).

Crown says the PC 4500 is the industry's first pallet truck incorporating dashboard-available controls and gauges for fuel cells. Typically, the controls, gauges, fuel level indicator and start/stop button are located on the fuel cell. The operator is inconvenienced by the need to stop operations to access the control box or check the status of the fuel cells.

In addition, the new version of the PC 4500 places the fuel cell power unit behind the operator.

"With the standard PC 4500, the battery box is located directly below the steering control," says Rod Squires, Crown product manager. "Because many fuel cell packs have a taller profile, there isn't enough room to fit them below the steering control without creating safety and performance issues. The idea to place the fuel cell behind the operator came about while we were working to meet the fuel cell needs of our customer, Walmart Canada."

The new Walmart Canada facility is the first complete distribution centre in Canada to utilise materials handling equipment powered exclusively by hydrogen fuel cells.

In a 10 February announcement, Walmart Canada said the 450,000 sqft (40,500 sqm) Balzac facility would be the first sustainable refrigerated distribution centre incorporating fuel cell technology, use of solar and wind energies, exclusive use of low energy solid-state lighting and high-efficiency doorways between temperature zones. Construction is costing CAD115 million (USD107 million).

Walmart Canada employs more than 85,000 associates, operates 319 retail outlets and is headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario. Walmart Canada is a wholly-owned subsidiary within the international business segment of publicly traded Wal-Mart Stores Inc of Bentonville, Arkansas.

Crown began fuel cell research in 2005, has received two grants and conducts testing at a dedicated facility near Dayton, Ohio. Recently, Crown introduced a fuel cell qualification program for its line of electric forklifts (Forkliftaction.com News #448). The State of Ohio department of development and the Third Frontier Commission provided funding in support of the qualification of lift trucks for battery replacement fuel cell projects.

Recently, food products distributor Sysco Corp began utilizing Plug Power's GenDrive fuel cell units on 72 pallet trucks and 26 Reach-Fork trucks from Raymond Corp at a new distribution centre in North Houston, Texas (Forkliftaction.com News #467).