FuelCell Energy cooks up power plant deal with onion grower
Riding the wave of support for creative new energy sources such as animal waste, corn and organic materials, Danbury, Conn.'s FuelCell Energy Inc. has teamed with California-based Gills Onions, one of the largest year-round growers and processors of fresh-cut onions, to develop a process for converting biogas created from onion peel waste products to generate electricity.
Gills Onions has purchased two 250-kilowatt Direct FuelCell power plants to convert the tear-inducing waste into electricity to be used on site, helping Gills Onions reduce its energy costs and lower its waste disposal expenses. The units are expected to be operational by mid-2007, according to company officials.
Financial terms of the purchase were not provided.
The process will also allow Gills Onions to allocate the land it traditionally used for the disposal of onion waste in composting fields, for other activities.
Southern Gas Edison, administrator for the California Public Utilities Commission's Self Generation Program for the Onxard area of California, where Gills Onions is based, will provide incentive funding of up to $2.25 million of eligible project costs. Gills Onions will also be able to depreciate the capital cost of the fuel cell on an accelerated five-year schedule ,and take advantage of an Investment Tax Credit -- a provision of Energy Policy Act of 2005 that provides up to $1,000 for each kilowatt -- for the purchase of fuel cell power plants