The Long Island Power Authority (LIPA, Hauppauge, NY) announced that it has installed Plug Power Inc. (Latham, NY) fuel cells with combined heat and power (CHP) capability at the Suffolk County William Rogers Legislative Building in Hauppauge, NY. The three 5kW fuel cells will be interconnected to LIPA's grid and will operate in a CHP mode, providing electricity and heat on-site. Operation of the system, which will be powered by natural gas, will enable evaluation of the integration of fuel cells at the specific point of need, along with the advanced technology of providing both electricity and heat.
The unit will provide 10,000W of electrical power to the building's electrical supply grid and approximately 30,000 BTUs of heat to the building's domestic hot water heater. Funding for the fuel cell project is being provided under LIPA's Clean Energy Initiative (CEI), which is a 10-year, $355 million program, designed to foster the development and application of clean energy technologies, including fuel cells.
"Following last week's regional power outage, it is clear that the technology of fuel cells holds the key to a future of environmentally sensitive electric redundancy," said LIPA Chairman Richard Kessel. "Fuel cells are ecologically friendly mini-power sources. LIPA believes that fuel cells will be an important component of an alternative energy mix for Long Island."
