FuelCell Energy Inc. (Danbury, CT) and PPL Energy Services, a subsidiary of PPL Corp. (Allentown, PA), will install a 250kW Direct FuelCell® (DFC®) power plant at Ocean County College in Toms River, NJ. The power plant, which will run on natural gas, will be manufactured by FuelCell Energy and will be installed by PPL Energy. The total value of the project is $1.65 million. The New Jersey Clean Energy Fund will provide $827,000 in the form of grants.
The power plant is to be operated in a cogeneration mode, supplying both electricity and heat to several buildings on the campus. It will be sited next to one of the buildings and feed power into the central power and heating system located in the basement. The power plant will supply about 90 percent of the day-to-day and backup power needs for three buildings. It will also supply 20 percent of the heating for the college's central heating loop.
"This project is an example of both innovative thinking by our partners at PPL and of the flexibility of our Direct FuelCell technology," said FuelCell Energy Chairman and CEO Jerry Leitman. "By locating it next to the building, PPL is able to maximize the efficiency of the unit by using the heat energy as well as the electric power. The clean and quiet nature of the fuel cell makes this close siting to the customer's load center possible."
