January 2007

E-Mail This Article Printer-Friendly Version

DANBURY, CT - More and Bigger Fuel Cell Plants:

FuelCell Energy, Inc. here reported last month it had submitted bids for fuel cell power projects totaling 98.6 MW to the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (CCEF) for its Project 100, the Fund’s plan to install 100 MW of electricity in the state to be generated by renewables by 2008.

The bids by the Danbury, CT-based company range in size from 2.4 MW to 28 MW, and they were submitted in partnership with several developers, the company said. In the current phase, the Fund has already received close to 315 MW worth of clean energy proposals including fuel cells, wind sources, biomass and solar, according to the company. CCEF is scheduled to announce its selections in March.

Earlier, at the beginning of November, Fuel Cell Energy announced the Dublin San Ramon Services District in northern California has bought two Direct FuelCell® power plants with a combined output of 600 kW to provide electric power for its regional wastewater treatment plant in Pleasanton that will run on digester gas from the waste treatment process.

And a week later, FuelCell Energy said it had started production of what it said was the first multi-megawatt hybrid plant in a joint project with Canada’s Enbridge, Inc., Calgary, Alberta, a leading company in energy transportation and distribution. The new plant, designed to recover energy lost during pipeline operations, combines a 1.2 MW Direct Fuel Cell®) power plant with a 1 MW unfired gas expansion turbine. Operating at so-called gas pipeline “letdown” stations, the system generates 2.2 MW.

Design of the new system has been underway for more than a year, and Enbridge has ordered a 1.2 MW power plant for integration into the other components to meet needs in emerging markets in Ontario, Connecticut, and other states.

FuelCell Energy explained in its release natural gas pipelines operate at high pressures, and considerable energy must be injected to achieve the pressures required. This high pressure must be reduced when the gas enters lower pressure systems that deliver gas to homes and businesses. Currently, there is no commercial use made of the energy that is lost at that stage.

Additionally, when pressure is reduced, the gas cools. To ensure reliable pipeline operations, the cooling must be offset by burning some gas in boilers, reheating the supply to an acceptable temperature. With the new Direct FuelCell-Energy Recovery Generation ™ (DFC-ERG™) system, high-pressure gas passes through a turbine capturing some of the energy otherwise lost and turns it into usable electricity, and heat normally generated by the fuel cell warms the gas to its proper distribution temperature, eliminating the boiler and its emissions.

The combined system can achieve electrical efficiencies over 60%, with low noise and virtually zero smog emissions.

Contacts: FuelCell Energy, Lisa Lettieri, 203/830-7494, lletieri@fce.com; Enbridge, Bob Rahn, 403/231-7398, bob.rahn@enbridge.com.

The bids by the Danbury, CT-based company range in size from 2.4 MW to 28 MW, and they were submitted in partnership with several developers, the company said. In the current phase, the Fund has already received close to 315 MW worth of clean energy proposals including fuel cells, wind sources, biomass and solar, according to the company. CCEF is scheduled to announce its selections in March.

Earlier, at the beginning of November, Fuel Cell Energy announced the Dublin San Ramon Services District in northern California has bought two Direct FuelCell® power plants with a combined output of 600 kW to provide electric power for its regional wastewater treatment plant in Pleasanton that will run on digester gas from the waste treatment process.

And a week later, FuelCell Energy said it had started production of what it said was the first multi-megawatt hybrid plant in a joint project with Canada’s Enbridge, Inc., Calgary, Alberta, a leading company in energy transportation and distribution. The new plant, designed to recover energy lost during pipeline operations, combines a 1.2 MW Direct Fuel Cell®) power plant with a 1 MW unfired gas expansion turbine. Operating at so-called gas pipeline “letdown” stations, the system generates 2.2 MW.

Design of the new system has been underway for more than a year, and Enbridge has ordered a 1.2 MW power plant for integration into the other components to meet needs in emerging markets in Ontario, Connecticut, and other states.

FuelCell Energy explained in its release natural gas pipelines operate at high pressures, and considerable energy must be injected to achieve the pressures required. This high pressure must be reduced when the gas enters lower pressure systems that deliver gas to homes and businesses. Currently, there is no commercial use made of the energy that is lost at that stage.

Additionally, when pressure is reduced, the gas cools. To ensure reliable pipeline operations, the cooling must be offset by burning some gas in boilers, reheating the supply to an acceptable temperature. With the new Direct FuelCell-Energy Recovery Generation ™ (DFC-ERG™) system, high-pressure gas passes through a turbine capturing some of the energy otherwise lost and turns it into usable electricity, and heat normally generated by the fuel cell warms the gas to its proper distribution temperature, eliminating the boiler and its emissions.

The combined system can achieve electrical efficiencies over 60%, with low noise and virtually zero smog emissions.

Contacts: FuelCell Energy, Lisa Lettieri, 203/830-7494, lletieri@fce.com; Enbridge, Bob Rahn, 403/231-7398, bob.rahn@enbridge.com.