Fuel Cells Expected To Cut School's Costs

 

Fuel Cells Expected To Cut School's Costs

Publication Date:26-September-2006
09:30 AM US Eastern Timezone
Source:Josh Kovner-Hartford Courant
MIDDLETOWN -- Some of the heat for the new high school will come from
fuel cells, which produce electricity while converting hydrogen and
oxygen to water. And they will do it for a lot less than the electric
company charges. The common council recently chose UTC Power, a unit of
United Technologies, to install and maintain two fuel cells outside the
school building, now under construction on Wilderman's Way.

UTC Power says the cells will save $1 million over conventional
electric rates in the first five years.

"Look at your electric bill and compare it to two years ago. The fuel
cells give us a stable base that won't be affected by the additional
rate increases that are coming," said W. Lee Osborne, a Middletown
architect who chairs the high school building committee. "The council
members, by going this route, have looked beyond their two-year terms
to save us money. It came from both sides of the aisle. In government,
that's refreshing."

The fuel cells would provide heat for the pool and supplement the heat
in other areas of the 250,000-square-foot building.

As recently as last spring, project officials were considering hiring
an outside company to build and run a 4,000-square-foot power plant on
the high school campus - at an upfront cost of about $4 million. The
power plant idea was scrapped in favor of fuel cells.

The cost for the UTC venture would be $179,000 - after the city
receives an expected $940,000 subsidy from the Connecticut Clean Energy
Fund. The fund exists to encourage the use of alternative energy
sources.

"It's a long way from a $4 million co-generation plant to a $179,000
investment," said council Majority Leader Thomas Serra. "And this is a
qualified vendor."

The council on Sept. 14 chose UTC Power, based in South Windsor, over
Northern Power System, with offices in Wallingford and Vermont.

Masonry work on the high school is set to start in mid-October; the
$106.6 million project is slated to be finished in late summer 2008.
 

 

And that is the key - it cannot survive without a 90% subsidy

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Where will the hydrogen come from?

Nick

 



Sadly, in this case I believe it will be mined from our backsides.......

 


Hydrogen Fueling Station and Vehicle Demonstration Programs Map
http://www.cafcp.org/fuel-vehl_map.html
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