April 7, 2003—FuelCell Energy Inc. has signed an agreement with Yale University to install and service a DFC300A fuel cell power plant that will provide heat and power for the university’s Environmental Sciences Building near the Peabody Museum in New Haven, Conn.
Electricity from the unit will provide approximately 25 percent of the building’s electricity needs, with the heat being used primarily to maintain tight temperature and humidity controls at the storage facility where rare bones and artifacts are kept and preserved. Start-up is expected to begin in the summer of 2003, and the service agreement will be renewable after the initial five-year period is up.
The cost of the project is $1.25 million, exclusive of the service agreement.
A unit was purchased by the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund last year for use in the state and the Connecticut Siting Council approved the Yale University location in December 2002. The Connecticut Clean Energy Fund invests in enterprises and initiatives that help promote the development, production and use of energy from clean and renewable sources.
Direct FuelCells efficiently generate clean electricity at distributed locations near the customer. In essence, they are like large, continuously operating batteries that generate electricity as long as fuel, such as natural gas, is supplied. Since the fuel is not burned, there is no pollution commonly associated with the combustion of fossil fuels.
