Publication Date:07-Sept-2007 03:00 PM US Eastern Timezone Source:Adam Schreck, AP Business Writer FuelCell Energy and HydroGen Plan to Boost Production of Stationary Fuel Cell Systems NEW YORK (AP) -- Two companies that make stationary fuel cells each plan to boost production levels in the coming months, signaling growing demand for the alternative power source.
Speaking at an investor conference Thursday, FuelCell Energy Inc. President and Chief Executive Dan Brdar said the company expects to more than double output by the end of the year. HydroGen Corp. President and CEO Joshua Tosteson, meanwhile, said his company expects to boost production at an existing plant and plans to build a new, larger facility to keep up with demand.
"We're on an extremely fast manufacturing ramp," Tosteson said.
Both alternative-fuel companies make fuel-cell modules which generate electricity to power buildings using hydrogen. Like smaller fuel cells being developed for vehicles and other applications, the power systems release fewer emissions than traditional coal or oil-burning power sources.
Brdar said FuelCell Energy plans to increase its output to 25 megawatts by the end of the year, up from about 10 megawatts now. The companies measure factory output based on the total wattage their combined units produce.
In an interview, Brdar said production levels are likely to rise even further in 2008, but he declined to provide specifics.
The Danbury, Conn.-based company makes generators that produce up to 2.4 megawatts of electricity for hotels, hospitals, universities, utility providers and shopping centers.
HydroGen, based in Cleveland, takes a different approach. It builds fuel-cell systems to power chemical factories, such as chlorine and ammonia plants, which produce hydrogen as a byproduct. In July, the company completed work on a 400-kilowatt demonstration system at an Ashta Chemicals factory in Ashtabula, Ohio.
Tosteson said HydroGen's existing facility in Versailles, Pa., has enough capacity to produce 4 megawatts per year, and said output could rise to 10 megawatts next year.
The company is also planning to open a second, automated facility in Ohio that would be able to put out 25 megawatts a year. That plant could be online by late 2008 or early 2009, with incremental expansion after that.
"Meeting market demand over the next 18 months is going to be a challenge," he said in an interview.
|