Danbury-based FuelCell Energy is part of a group of 11 companies and organizations from around the world taking part in a U.S. State Department pilot program designed to bring energy security to Ukraine, company officials said.
The company, which manufactures and operates hydrogen fuel cells that produce electricity, does not currently have any of its hydrogen fuel cells deployed in Ukraine or eastern Europe, said Jason Few, president and chief executive officer of FuelCell Energy. Few said the company’s fuel cells are deployed in several European Union countries, although he did not specify which ones.
Few said the company will deploy at least one of its fuel cells in Ukraine. Financial terms of FuelCell Energy’s participation in the program were not released, he said.
John Kerry, the United States’ Special Presidential Envoy for Climate and Ukraine Minister of Energy German Galushchenko, announced the launch of the pilot program. FuelCell Energy is one of four U.S. companies involved in the pilot project, according to State Department officials.
The timing of the deployment is still being determined, but Few said “it is still a couple years out.”
“Given what’s going on there today, there are unique challenges, which we hope will be resolved by the time were are ready to deploy our platform,” he said. “We are all excited to be work with the State Department.”
Company officials said FuelCell Energy’s involvement in the pilot program will result in adding to the company’s 400-person Connecticut workforce, although they declined to elaborate on how many new workers might be hired. FuelCell Energy’s employees in the state are evenly split between the company’s Torrington manufacturing facility and its corporate headquarters and operations center in Danbury.
The company’s involvement in the State Department program is the second time since 2020 that FuelCell Energy has received a government contract.
FuelCell Energy got an $8 million contract in October 2020 from the U.S. Energy Department. The agency is testing whether nuclear plants can diversify their business models by diverting excess electricity and heat during periods of low demand into massive banks of fuel cells, which would use the currents to carve off hydrogen atoms from water molecules.
Few said as part of the pilot program in Ukraine, FuelCell Energy will be deploying one of its a solid oxide electrolyzers, which produce clean hydrogen using a variety of energy sources, including electricity and heat from small modular reactors. The hydrogen can be used to produce power or to create ammonia, which can be used to improve long-term food production through clean ammonia-produced fertilizers.
State Department officials said Ukraine currently has multiple sources including oil, gas, onshore wind, solar, hydro, and biopower. But the country relies most heavily on small-mode nuclear power plants and coal fired generators.
Few said the pilot project will highlight how fuel cells can enhance energy security and reliability in Ukraine.
“Hydrogen is regenerative, and it can be produced locally,” he said. “It serves as great substitute for or in addition to natural gas.”
Few said when the company’s solid oxide electrolyzer is ready to be deployed in Ukraine, the construction and engineering work would likely be outsourced. But once the electrolyzer is up and running, it would be monitored around the clock from FuelCell Energy’s Danbury operations center.
SOURCE: MP
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