FuelCell Energy Announces Project Development Agreement With E.ON Connecting Energies GmbH and First European Megawatt Stationary Fuel Cell Power Plant Sale in Europe

Jul 30, 2015
  • Utility ownership model for on-site power applications in Europe
  • Sale of 1.4 megawatt power plant to E.ON for installation at FRIATEC AG
  • Combined heat and power fuel cell solution yields efficiency gains and carbon reductions

DANBURY, Conn., July 30, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --  FuelCell Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCEL) a global leader in the design, manufacture, operation and service of ultra-clean, efficient and reliable fuel cell power plants, today announced an agreement between its affiliate FuelCell Energy Solutions, GmbH (FCES) and E.ON Connecting Energies GmbH to offer decentralized combined heat and power (CHP) solutions with megawatt (MW) and multi-megawatt Direct FuelCell® (DFC®) power plants to its existing and prospective customer base, via a power purchase agreement financing or leasing structure.  FuelCell Energy Solutions GmbH is a provider of ultra-clean, efficient and reliable fuel cell power plants in the European Served Area.  E.ON Connecting Energies bundles E.ON's solutions business in decentralized energy and energy efficiency, serving industrial, commercial and public-sector customers.

The agreement commences with the sale of a 1.4 MW plant in Europe at the German headquarters and production facility of FRIATEC AG in Mannheim.  FRIATEC will host the plant, and benefit from ultra-clean, efficient and reliable power and high quality heat along with a reduction of power costs and enhanced energy security.  E.ON will own the power plant and FuelCell Energy Solutions will install, operate and maintain the plant under a long-term service agreement.

Robert Hienz, CEO of E.ON Connecting Energies, commented: "With this partnership, we are delighted to install the first commercial MW-class fuel cell in Europe in an industrial environment. This case shows how high-efficiency technologies can grow, mature and serve real customer needs, such as reducing CO2 emissions by around 25 percent, and significantly cut energy cost as a production factor."

The 1.4 MW power plant installation at FRIATEC will meet approximately 60 percent of the power needs of the manufacturing operations.  The high quality heat from the power plant will be supplied to the existing on-site heating grid to be used at multiple production areas within the facility. 

"Our production-processes require a large amount of power and heat, so we are very happy to have the opportunity to utilize fuel cells to generate these necessities as efficiently and as cleanly as possible to advance our environmentally-friendly production processes," said Klaus Wolf, CEO of FRIATEC AG.

"We are pleased to be partnering with leading energy provider E.ON Connecting Energies to accelerate the deployment of multi-megawatt fuel cell power plants," said Chip Bottone, President and Chief Executive Officer FuelCell Energy, Inc. and Managing Director, FuelCell Energy Solutions GmbH. "This agreement introduces our globally proven power plants to new geographies and customers that are interested in highly efficient and virtually emission free distributed power generation solutions."

The project development agreement targets CHP applications for large scale power users that require continuous power, delivered economically and in an environmentally friendly manner.  Multi-megawatt fuel cell installations are operating globally, providing both on-site power as well as utility grid support, including a 15 megawatt DFC® fuel cell park in North America and the world's largest, a 59 megawatt DFC® fuel cell park in South Korea.

Fuel cells electrochemically convert a fuel source into electricity and heat in a highly efficient process that emits virtually no pollutants due to the absence of combustion.  The combination of near-zero pollutants, modest land-use needs, and quiet operating profile facilitates permitting and enables locating the power plants in urban locations. 

E.ON Connecting Energies, owned by E.ON SE, an international privately-owned energy supplier, will in the future be focusing entirely on renewables, energy networks and customer solutions. In the 2014 financial year, more than 58,000 employees based in many countries in Europe as well as in Russia and North America generated sales of around EUR 112 billion. Around 33 million customers purchase gas and electricity from E.ON. The E.ON Group is run by Group Management in Düsseldorf, Germany.       

FRIATEC AG is a specialist company for products made of non-corroding and wear-resistant materials.  Based in Germany, the Company serves global markets, including jointing technology for pipe systems, high-performance ceramics and special pumps, and ceramic components used in laboratory, electrical engineering and medical engineering.  Since 2003, FRIATEC AG has been a member of the ALIAXIS group of companies with headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. ALIAXIS is the worldwide largest producer of plastic pipe systems for the construction industry and utilities.

FCES, with its German manufacturing base, is the sales, manufacturing and service business for the European Served Area for FuelCell Energy, Inc.  FCES is a joint venture between Fraunhofer IKTS and FuelCell Energy.

About FuelCell Energy 

Direct FuelCell® power plants are generating ultra-clean, efficient and reliable power at more than 50 locations worldwide.  With more than 300 megawatts of power generation capacity installed or in backlog, FuelCell Energy is a global leader in providing ultra-clean baseload distributed generation to utilities, industrial operations, universities, municipal water treatment facilities, government installations and other customers around the world.  The Company's power plants have generated over three billion kilowatt hours of ultra-clean power using a variety of fuels including renewable biogas from wastewater treatment and food processing, as well as clean natural gas.   For additional information, please visit www.fuelcellenergy.com, follow us on Twitter and view our videos on YouTube.

Direct FuelCell, DFC, DFC/T, DFC-H2 and FuelCell Energy, Inc. are all registered trademarks of FuelCell Energy, Inc.  DFC-ERG is a registered trademark jointly owned by Enbridge, Inc. and FuelCell Energy, Inc.

Contact:
FuelCell Energy, Inc.
Kurt Goddard, Vice President Investor Relations
203-830-7494
	  
ir@fce.com