DANBURY, Conn. & TOKYO, May 30, 2002 -- FuelCell Energy Inc. and The Marubeni Corp. announced the first siting of a Direct FuelCell® (DFC®) power plant for a municipal wastewater treatment facility in Japan in the City of Fukuoka.
Marubeni, Asian partner of fuel cell developer FuelCell Energy, will install a 250 kW DFC power plant at Fukuoka's wastewater treatment facility in the first quarter of 2003. Installation of the DFC cogeneration unit is part of a two-year program to evaluate the fuel cell technology. The Fukuoka wastewater treatment facility will consume the electricity and steam generated by the unit at their plant site.
"Marubeni is pleased to be working with the City of Fukuoka to gain valuable experience using clean, efficient DFC technology, while providing a reliable source of power from their wastewater digester plant," said Marc G. Aube, Vice President of Marubeni Power International. "The wastewater treatment market represents one of the largest opportunities for fuel cells in Japan, with the potential for over 2,000 MWs of power production."
The 250 kW DFC unit is to be operated in cogeneration mode, using the methane-like digester gas produced from the processing of municipal effluent. The thermal output of the fuel cell will be used by the anaerobic digester, which treats the incoming wastewater.
"Marubeni has been aggressive in seeking out new customers in Asia and the wastewater digester market is clearly a very attractive application for our products," said Jerry D. Leitman, president and CEO of FuelCell Energy. "The Fukuoka project is another strong acknowledgement of our technology's potential to use wastewater gas as a fuel. Our belief in the wastewater market is also evidenced by our efforts in the U.S. through our one megawatt King County, Washington project that will be delivered later this year and our recently announced market development agreement with MWH Energy Solutions."
This is Marubeni's second DFC project in Japan. In December 2001, Marubeni announced the siting of a 250-kilowatt DFC power plant at the industrial wastewater facility at the Kirin Brewery outside of Tokyo, Japan. This unit will also be operated in cogeneration mode.
About Direct FuelCells®
Direct FuelCells generate electricity with no combustion. They are, in-effect like large, continuously operating batteries that generate electricity as long as fuel, such as natural gas is supplied. Since the fuel is not burned, there is no pollution commonly associated with the combustion of fossil fuels (like NOx, SOx, particulates). The high efficiency leads to more electric power from less fuel.
About the City of Fukuoka
The City of Fukuoka is one of the largest cities in Southern Japan, with a population of over 1.5 million, located on the island of Kyushu. The Fukuoka Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment District processes over 119 million gallons of wastewater daily through six sewage treatment plants.
About FuelCell Energy, Inc.
FuelCell Energy, Inc. (www.fuelcellenergy.com), based in Danbury, Connecticut, is a world-recognized leader for development and commercialization of high efficiency fuel cells for electric power generation. The company's Direct FuelCell® (DFC®) technology eliminates external fuel processing to extract hydrogen from a hydrocarbon fuel.
The company has been developing DFC technology for stationary power plants with the U.S. Department of Energy through the National Energy Technology Laboratory, whose advanced fuel cell research program is focused on developing a new generation of high performance fuel cells that can generate clean electricity at power stations or in distributed locations near the customer, including hospitals, schools, data centers and other commercial and industrial applications.
About Marubeni
The Marubeni Corp. (www.marubeni.co.jp), established in 1858, is one of Japan's leading general trading houses (sogo shosha), with operations that encompass domestic, import/export, offshore trade and investment activities, which range from the development of natural resources to the retail marketing of finished products.
The company, based in Tokyo, conducts these operations through a worldwide business network. Marubeni has been involved in the development of over 20,000 MWs of power generation worldwide. The company has expanded its Utility Division to include distributed generation technologies and energy services.
