FuelCell Energy has sold the project company that owns the 1.4MW fuel cell power plant at Trinity College in Connecticut, to AEP OnSite Partners.
Image: FuelCell Energy offloads fuel cell power plant in Connecticut to AEP.
This project has been developed and constructed by FuelCell Energy and will be placed into commercial operation following the sale. The project company, under the new ownership of AEP OnSite Partners, will deliver clean power and heat to Trinity College under a multi-year power purchase agreement (PPA).
The sale of this project company and its assets to AEP OnSite Partners will result in revenue recognition of product sales from FuelCell Energy’s generation project assets portfolio in August. FuelCell Energy will operate and maintain the power plant under a fifteen-year service agreement with AEP OnSite Partners, resulting in recurring revenue recognition over the term.
FuelCell Energy president and CEO Chip Bottone said: “We are excited to enter into this transaction and build a relationship with AEP OnSite Partners.
“AEP OnSite Partners has committed publically to investing in a cleaner, smarter energy system that will provide a new energy resource and technology solutions, and this project fits that criteria perfectly.
“As numerous universities and colleges have demonstrated, fuel cells are an ideal solution for higher education to enhance energy resiliency in a clean and affordable manner.”
AEP OnSite Partners chief operating officer Joel H. Jansen said: “AEP OnSite Partners is pleased to partner with FuelCell Energy and Trinity College on this project, and expand our on-site generation portfolio.
“We are focused on developing a diverse portfolio of innovative energy solutions for our customers. As the first fuel-cell project in our portfolio, this innovative project will provide cleaner, sustainable energy and steam heat to Trinity College, while reducing the College’s energy costs.”
Trinity College finance and operations vice president Dan Hitchell said: “We thank the FuelCell Energy team for bringing this project to fruition on our campus as planned, and look forward to our ongoing relationship with them as service provider.
“This project makes both environmental and economic sense for Trinity, enabling us to minimize our environmental footprint and generate significant annual energy cost savings. Trinity is committed to enhancing environmental awareness, responsibility, and sustainability throughout the college community and this fuel cell is a significant step forward.”
The 1.4 megawatt SureSource 1500 TM fuel cell plant will generate both electricity and steam from the same unit of fuel, supporting both sustainability and economics, while achieving overall system efficiency upwards of 70 percent.
Adjacent to the school’s athletic center, the steam produced by the plant will supply the centralized steam system.
Minimizing the use of boilers for steam production reduces operating costs for the College as well as reducing the associated emissions from the combustion-based heating process.
The highly efficient fuel cells utilize an electrochemical reaction for the generation of electricity, enhancing sustainability by avoiding the creation of pollutants that burning a fuel generates, and generating power with a low carbon footprint.
The carbon dioxide (CO₂) reduction achieved by the fuel cell plant will be approximately 4,100 tons per year as compared to the national grid, which is equivalent to avoiding the annual greenhouse gas emissions from approximately 965 passenger vehicles.
This clean fuel cell installation will annually avoid the emission of approximately 8 tons of smog-producing nitrogen oxide (NOx), 10 tons of sulfur dioxide (SOx) that causes acid rain and more than 2,500 pounds of particulate matter (PM) that can aggravate asthma.
Source: Company Press Release