Fuel cell plant passes 1st test

The company that wants to bring the world's largest fuel cell power plant to Bridgeport jumped one of its biggest hurdles Tuesday when the Siting Council approved its petition.
Bridgeport Fuel Cell Park must now wait for the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund to decide whether its plan merits inclusion in "Project 100," which requires the state get at least 100 megawatts of power from renewable sources by 2008. A positive decision would mean Bridgeport Fuel Cell Park could sign contracts to sell power to utilities. The company could then use those contracts to raise the approximately $60 million needed to build the 14-megawatt park on a 2-acre brownfield site on Hancock Street in Bridgeport, according to Jim Murkette, the company's executive director. If all goes according to plan, the fuel cell park could be running by the end of 2007.
"It's not a building," he said. "These are machines," 12-foot high canisters that contain the fuel cells. A chemical reaction between the natural gas in the canisters and the fuel cells, which the company will buy from Danbury-based FuelCell Energy Inc., creates energy, which will augment southwestern Connecticut's traditionally generated power. Murkette said 14 megawatts is less than 1 percent of the region's daily usage.
Passers-by won't see the machines from the street, Murkette said — the configuration would look a bit like two giant six-packs of soda.
"That is very good news for the city of Bridgeport," Mayor John M. Fabrizi


said Thursday.
The city owns the site, and is working on a lease agreement with Bridgeport Fuel Cell Park, Fabrizi said. "It has not been finalized yet. We still have some further discussion on it."
According to Murkette, the company would pay the city a one-time sum of around $300,000, or whatever market value is for the property, then eventually buy it for $1.
The Siting Council essentially ruled the project would not have a significant environmental impact, said spokesman S. Derek Phelps. Because fuel cells don't emit noxious chemicals like some power plants, Phelps said he couldn't think of a circumstance where the council would deny a petition.
Another company, New York-based Elemental Power Group LLC, is also reportedly interested in using Project 100 to build a fuel cell-powered plant in Bridgeport. But Phelps said the council has "no other fuel cell project pending," and a telephone listing for the company wasn't available.
Companies can submit their Project 100 applications in early December, said Charlie Moret, managing director of communications for Connecticut Innovations, which administers the CCEF and the project. Participating in Project 100 — the company received a $500,000 loan for predevelopment costs from the project's first stage — means Bridgeport Fuel Cell Park can sign long-term power purchase agreements with the utilities.
The utilities can charge a premium for green power; their customers can decide to buy green power, and from whom, although that particular electricity won't necessarily be what's powering their lights.
"Without those contracts, these projects are not viable," Moret said.
There are two big steps for the fuel cell park, Moret said — Siting Council approval and the power purchase contracts. He expects Project 100 decisions to come about four months after the applications get in, so probably spring 2007.
"We're one step" of three in the process, he said.
CCEF determines which applications are viable, then the utilities review the projects, which get submitted to the Department of Public Utility Control for a ruling on the contracts. The Siting Council's decision was another indication the state has recognized the technology's cleanliness and low environmental impact, said Richard Shaw, director of business development for FuelCell Energy.
While Shaw could not give a specific cost for each fuel cell — partly for competitive reasons and because costs vary depending on order size — he said they typically cost $3,000 to $4,000 per kilowatt-hour generated. It will take the company 12 to 15 months to make all six units for the Bridgeport project.
While the Danbury-based company has fuel cells in place in specific locations, including the Peabody Museum in New Haven, Shaw said this would be the first providing power to the grid, and the world's largest plant.
Fuel cells, he added, are native to Connecticut; United Technologies Corp., which still makes them, developed fuel cells more than 35 years ago.
The benefit to the state, Shaw said, goes beyond cleaner air from local use and a potential ratepayer savings from congestion charges.
The industry, which employs about 1,000 people here, pays just under $30 million a year in state taxes, about $2 million a year in local taxes and contributes $340 million annually to the gross state product, he said, citing a review by the Connecticut Hydrogen-Fuel Cell Coalition.
"We think what's happening here in Connecticut is indicative of what ultimately will happen across the United State," as other states turn to fuel cell technology, and even internationally, Shaw said.
Pam Dawkins, YourMoney editor, can be reached at 330-6351.