FuelCell Energy Announces Definitive Agreements With the U.S. Department of Energy for Previously Disclosed Award Selections
October 05 2015 - 8:30AM
FuelCell Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq:FCEL), a global leader in
the design, manufacture, operation and service of ultra‐clean,
efficient and reliable fuel cell power plants, announced the
completion of awards from the U.S. Department of Energy regarding
four previously disclosed projects, including carbon capture
utilizing a carbonate fuel cell power plant and three projects
related to the commercialization of solid oxide fuel cell
technology. These four projects add approximately $24 million to
backlog in the fourth quarter of 2015, which excludes cost share
obligations.
“One of our competitive advantages is robust research and
development, which, in the case of carbon capture, utilizes our
commercial fuel cell plant in an alternate configuration to pursue
a potentially sizeable market,” said Chip Bottone, Chief Executive
Officer, FuelCell Energy, Inc. “Advancing our solid oxide fuel cell
commercialization is also exciting as we evaluate host sites and
adapt the technology for storage applications.”
The projects include:
Carbon CaptureThis DOE project is to install a
2.3 megawatt fuel cell power plant configured for carbon capture
adjacent to an operating coal-fired plant to capture a portion of
the carbon emissions and destroy a portion of smog-causing nitrogen
oxide (NOx), while also producing ultra-clean electricity. Carbon
concentration and capture within the carbonate fuel cell is a side
reaction of the natural gas-fueled power generation process. The
FuelCell Energy carbon capture solution is a scalable and
affordable approach incorporating a number of fuel cell power
plants adjacent to existing coal or gas-fired power plants. Flue
gas from the coal or gas-fired plant is routed into the fuel cells
instead of ambient air, and the carbon is efficiently separated,
concentrated and captured. The DFC3000-based system installed under
this DOE project will be the first of an expected two phase project
at the selected site. The second phase, to follow this DOE project,
would be to install eleven additional fuel cell power plants for a
total project of 27.6 megawatts to capture approximately 700
tons/day of CO2 in total, while simultaneously generating about
648,000 kilowatt hours/day of ultra-clean power. FCE is in active
discussions with a number of major utility companies to select the
best coal power plant site for this system.
Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) Commercialization with 400
kilowatt projectFuelCell Energy will install and operate a
400 kilowatt SOFC system located at a host site and connected to
the electric grid. This project is a significant step in
commercializing SOFC technology for sub-megawatt distributed power
generation and energy storage applications. FCE recently began
operation of a 50 kilowatt system incorporating the stack design
and system configuration concepts that will be used for the 400
kilowatt system. Several potential hosts have expressed interest in
providing the site for the project, and FCE is currently evaluating
these options to determine the best location for the project.
SOFC ManufacturingThis project advances SOFC
commercialization by implementing continuous flow manufacturing
with consistent high quality and within market-competitive cost
parameters. The project targets cost reduction in the design and
advancing the reliability, robustness and endurance of the fuel
cells. It continues DOE-supported efforts which have refined the
performance and economics of the SOFC technology. These efforts
have led to industry leading levels of performance, durability, and
cell size scale-up, which is critical to meeting affordability
targets for stationary power generation systems.
Electrolysis for hydrogen productionThe SOFC
stack will be adapted for hydrogen production using electrolysis
through a solid oxide electrolyzer cell (SOEC) at very high
efficiency and within established cost parameters. Hydrogen
produced from SOEC can be stored and used for grid-power, hydrogen
fueling stations or for industrial purposes as an alternative to
natural gas reforming. SOEC can also be applied as a clean and
highly efficient solution for storing excess power produced by
intermittent technologies when their output exceeds the needs of
the electric grid.
Direct FuelCell® (DFC®) power plants combine a fuel such as
clean natural gas or renewable biogas with oxygen from the ambient
air to efficiently generate power electrochemically, almost
completely avoiding the emission of nitrogen oxide (NOx) that
causes smog, sulfur dioxide (SOx) that contributes to acid rain, or
particulate matter that can aggravate asthma. These highly
efficient and affordable power generation solutions provide
continuous power where the power is used, including both on-site
applications and electric grid support. The combination of
near-zero pollutants, modest land-use needs, and quiet operating
nature of these stationary fuel cell power plants facilitates
locating the power plants in urban locations. The power plants are
fuel flexible, capable of operating on clean natural gas, on-site
renewable biogas, or directed biogas. FCE’s line of commercial DFC
distributed power generation systems is the starting point platform
for new products such as DFC-based carbon capture. FCE’s experience
from the commercialization of DFC power plants is also a key
success factor in the development of new fuel cell technologies,
such as SOFC.
About FuelCell Energy
Direct FuelCell® power plants are generating ultra-clean,
efficient and reliable power at more than 50 locations worldwide.
With more than 300 megawatts of power generation capacity installed
or in backlog, FuelCell Energy is a global leader in providing
ultra-clean baseload distributed generation to utilities,
industrial operations, universities, municipal water treatment
facilities, government installations and other customers around the
world. The Company’s power plants have generated over four billion
kilowatt hours of ultra-clean power using a variety of fuels
including renewable biogas from wastewater treatment and food
processing, as well as clean natural gas. For additional
information, please visit www.fuelcellenergy.com, follow us on
Twitter and view our videos on YouTube.
Direct FuelCell, DFC, DFC/T, DFC-H2 and FuelCell Energy, Inc.
are all registered trademarks of FuelCell Energy, Inc. DFC-ERG is a
registered trademark jointly owned by Enbridge, Inc. and FuelCell
Energy, Inc.
Contact:
FuelCell Energy, Inc.
Kurt Goddard, Vice President Investor Relations
203-830-7494
ir@fce.com
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