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City's First Fuel-Cell Plant Unveiled
FuelCell Energy to help power Yale Peabody facility
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Business New Haven
12/08/2003
By: M.C.B.
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NEW HAVEN - Yale University, state and local officials and representatives of the Danbury-based FuelCell Energy on December 3 dedicated Connecticut's first high-efficiency fuel cell power plant at the Environmental Science Center near the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History.
"As a leader in environmental research and education, Yale is committed to operating its campus in an environmentally sound manner," said Yale President Richard C. Levin. "We are pleased to work with the state in adding fuel cell technology developed in Connecticut to our efforts to meet our energy needs as efficiently and cleanly as possible."
Yale's 250-kilowatt fuel cell 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 facility.
"The location at the Yale Peabody Museum is very appropriate because the Environmental Science Center can effectively use both the electrical and heat output of the plant," said Fuel Cell Chairman and CEO Jerry Leitman. "It is further demonstration of universities as an ideal application for our Direct FuelCell products." said Jerry Leitman, chairman and CEO of FuelCell Energy.
At the event, Gov. John G. Rowland spoke of his state's leadership in fuel-cell technology.
"Fuel cells are a growing part of the industrial economy in Connecticut and projects like this help bring greater awareness of the benefits of fuel cells to our environment as well as to the stability and reliability of the electric power system here in Connecticut and the United States," said Rowland.
The Connecticut Clean Energy Fund purchased the fuel cell power plant last year for use in the state, and the Connecticut Siting Council approved the Yale location in December 2002. The Clean Energy Fund invests in enterprises and initiatives that help promote the development, production and use of energy from clean and renewable sources.
"Connecticut's leadership role in providing for a cleaner energy future is greatly enhanced and advanced by projects such as this," said Arthur Diedrick, chairman of the Clean Energy Fund. "We are pleased we can help to provide funding that helps pushes products like fuel cells out in the commercial marketplace where they can benefit the citizens of Connecticut and beyond."
Direct FuelCells generate electricity with no combustion. They operate like large, continuously operating batteries generating electricity as long as fuel, such as natural gas, is supplied.
Since the fuel is not burned, there is none of the pollution commonly associated with the combustion of fossil fuels (such as NOx or SOx particulates). The high efficiency of the fuel cell reaction produces more electric power from less fuel.
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