FuelCell Energy Selected by DOE to Develop Fuel Cell Hybrid Power Plant

FuelCell Energy Inc. (Danbury, CT) has been selected to develop a $3.125 million program by the US Department of Energy (DOE), including 20-percent cost sharing, to support the design of a 40MW ultra-high efficiency, fuel cell/turbine hybrid power plant based on the company's Direct FuelCell (DFC). The system proposes an innovative combination of the DFC with a turbine without requiring any combustion in the turbine or pressurization of the fuel cell.

The program will include four critical steps: development of a high-utilization fuel cell, development of key system components, a sub-scale test of a DFC/turbine hybrid system utilizing the 250kW DFC power plant currently providing electricity for the company's Danbury facility, and the conceptual design of a 40MW power plant.

"The hybrid system would be a significant additional product offering to our planned distributed-generation power plant line," stated Jerry D. Leitman, president and CEO of FuelCell Energy.