The Connecticut Post Online - Bridgeport getting fuel-cell plant

Danbury-based FuelCell Energy and Farmington-based PurePower are planning to make Bridgeport the home of the nation's, and possibly the world's, largest fuel-cell power plant by 2007.
FuelCell Energy and PurePower secured a $500,000 loan from the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund to help with engineering and site development plans for their joint venture, called the Bridgeport Fuel Cell Park. The 10-megawatt plant could provide enough electricity to power more than 9,300 households, and will be built on an old industrial site in the West End, off State Street. The exact address was unavailable Tuesday.
Steven Eschbach, a FuelCell Energy spokesman, said his company selected Bridgeport because there is room to build the plant and because the city is in the heart of a region that needs more electricity.
For years, Connecticut's electric utilities and the region's power grid manager, Independent System Operator New England, have warned southwest Connecticut needs to build more power plants and electric transmission lines to meet its growing need for electricity.
If temperatures soar this summer, ISO New England has again warned southwest Connecticut might face rolling blackouts as demand for power exceeds supply.
The Bridgeport Fuel Cell Park, however, won't be up and running in time to help with this summer's power needs. Under a best-case scenario, Eschbach said, the project could be ready in 2007. It's unclear what local zoning permits might be needed, if any, because this is an energy project, over which the Connecticut Siting Council would have jurisdiction, according to state law.
But Eschbach said the clean energy fund must first review the project, approving or rejecting it by Sept. 1. Then Bridgeport Fuel Cell Park's officers would negotiate long-term contracts with United Illuminating Co. or Connecticut Light & Power Co. to provide electricity to the grid. Connecticut regulators would review the contracts and plans for the project
Advertisement
GetAd('tile','box','/business_article','','www.connpost.com','','null','null');
dcmaxversion = 9
dcminversion = 7
Do
On Error Resume Next
plugin = (IsObject(CreateObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash." & dcmaxversion & "")))
If plugin = true Then Exit Do
dcmaxversion = dcmaxversion - 1
Loop While dcmaxversion >= dcminversion

and could rule on it by late fall or winter, he said. Then FuelCell Energy and PurePower would build the plant.
Lisa Dondy, the clean energy fund's chief operating officer, said the Bridgeport Fuel Cell Park will be considered for Project 100, a new program that requires state utilities to contract 100 megawatts of power from clean and renewable energy plants by July 1, 2008.
The Clean Energy Fund must approve projects for the program and has already recommended a proposed 4-megawatt fuel-cell plant in Wallingford for Project 100. That plant would be the largest in the country, at least until the Bridgeport project is built, Dondy said.
The deadline for submitting bids for Project 100 is July 17, Dondy said, and it looks like there is plenty of interest. The fund is hoping to fill 85 megawatts of power, she said, but "We feel it's going to be over subscribed."
While Project 100 calls for the use of "renewable" fuels, Dondy said fuel cells are also eligible because the Legislature specified that technology in its mandate.
Fuel cells use a chemical process to create energy, but usually run on fossil fuels, such as natural gas. The Bridgeport Fuel Cell Park would use natural gas, according to Eschbach.
But fuel cells produce virtually no pollution, Eschbach and Dondy said, and are more efficient than turbines, which use combustion to create energy.
This project, Dondy said, has the added benefit of reclaiming an old industrial site for the use of environmentally friendly technology.
Rob Varnon, who covers business, can be reached at 330-6216.