News

SatCon, ZeTek and ALLIED Utility Network Join Forces to Develop Fuel-Cell Generators

April 04, 2001 by Jeff Shepard

ALLIED Utility Network (Atlanta, GA), ZeTek Power Corp. (New York, NY), a subsidiary of ZeTek Power plc, and SatCon Technology Corp. (Cambridge, MA) have joined forces to develop networked, zero-emission, commercial-sized alkaline fuel cell power generation systems. The objective of the collaboration is to create a clean, low-cost, highly efficient distributed energy source capable of meeting the needs of electric utilities and their customers by networking fuel-cell generators to be operated either on the grid or on a stand-alone basis.

The three-phase program consists of a small-scale modeling exercise leading to 500kW of networked fuel-cell systems and finally the installation of up to 50MW of generating capacity. ZeTek will provide the modular alkaline fuel-cell stacks; SatCon will provide the power electronics and controls that will link the modular fuel cells to provide a premium power-grade output; and ALLIED will provide the utility test bed for the fuel-cell program.