Green Energy News | February 7, 1999

February 7, 1999 – Vol.3 No.45

ENERGIES... week of February 7, 1999

STATIONARY APPLICATIONS FIRST. Fuel cells may find their way into homes and small businesses before they power your car. Distributed power generation - electricity generated where it’s needed - is the initial target market for Plug Power and its new partner.

General Electric and Plug Power have reached a final agreement to create “GE Fuel Cell Systems” a joint venture company to distribute fuel cell systems worldwide. Aside from 75% ownership in the new company, GE will use its century of experience for further product development and manufacturing support.

Under the new banner the company will sell systems under 35 kW. The first units will begin field testing later this year and product introduction should begin by January 2001, according to GE. Initial prices for residential sized systems should range from $7500 to $10,000. GE hopes that prices will eventually drop to $3500 per unit. At that price the small units should generate electricity at 7-10 cents per kilowatt hour depending on usage and local fuel costs.

As a standalone generator, electrical efficiency of 40% should be achieved. If excess heat from the fuel cell is used for hot water or heating, overall energy efficiency could exceed 70%. The fuel cells will be able to operate on a variety of fuels such as natural gas, propane or methanol. Visit Plug Power at http://www.plugpower.com/ .

PAID OUT OF SAVINGS. No additional taxpayer dollars will be needed to make some U.S. Government buildings more energy efficient. In a program estimated to be worth $500 million, five U.S. companies - Constellation Energy Source, Duke Energy, Enron Energy, PECO Energy and American Standard - have been chosen by the Department of Energy to be part of a national geothermal energy saving retrofit program for federal facilities. There are approximately 500,000 federal buildings in the U.S and territories. Those retrofitted should save up to 40% on their electric bills. For each dollar earned by the five companies - money previously spent on energy before the retrofits - two dollars in savings are expected to be returned to government coffers. Annual energy savings for the whole program could reach $700 million per year by 2005.

The companies will be able to work independently from government overseers and negotiate contracts for facility retrofits themselves. Direct negotiations will allow federal facilities to begin saving energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible. Along with geothermal (or ground source) heating and cooling systems, other necessary energy saving measures may be included with each contract. Visit Constellation Energy at http://www.cesource.com/ , Duke at http://www.duke-energy.com/ , Enron at http://www.enron.com/ , PECO at http://www.peco.com/ and American Standard at http://www.americanstandard.com .