I wonder why we haven't seen this posted in the news:
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Wednesday, January 21, 2015
By Tony Leo
As a college committed to environmental sustainability, Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) has adopted bold clean energy practices that are making other schools take notice. For its nearly 10,000 undergraduate students, CCSU sought a continuous onsite power solution that reduced its carbon footprint and helped it achieve aggressive Climate Action Plan goals. In addition, CCSU was determined to find ways to strengthen its energy security and independence in ways that would not only reduce energy costs, but also provide a level of cost certainty and assurances well into the future.
A rigorous RFP process revealed an affordable, highly efficient and emission-reducing option: a stationary fuel cell power plant. Fuel cell power generation was an inspiring new concept for the CCSU leadership team, one that ultimately electrified the campus’ electric grid and, in turn, the university community.
CCSU chose a fuel cell power plant manufactured by FuelCell Energy, a Danbury, CT-based supplier of megawatt-class fuel cell power plants for onsite and electric grid support applications. The company installed a 1.4-MW DFC1500 fuel cell power plant on CCSU’s New Britain campus in only four months.
Greenwood Energy, a renewable energy investment firm, owns the plant and sells the electricity and heat to CCSU under a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). With the PPA, CCSU avoided an upfront capital investment, paying only for power it receives. This structure creatively mitigates risk for the university while providing certainty of future power costs. FuelCell Energy operates and maintains the plant so the university enjoys the benefits of clean and affordable power without needing to be involved in the daily operation of the plant.
FuelCell Energy’s highly efficient, stationary fuel cell power plants generate electricity and usable heat energy continuously via an electrochemical process that is virtually absent of the pollutants that cause smog (Nox), acid rain (SOx), or that can aggravate asthma (particulates). Quiet and easily sited, they have proven to be an ideal solution for universities like CCSU, and have a reputation for reliability with over 100 plants operating at more than 50 sites globally.
AI
