Oct 18 2012
FuelCell Energy, a global leader in the design, manufacture and service of ultra-clean, efficient and reliable fuel cell power plants, today announced market developments in South Korea that support expanding demand for stationary fuel cell power plants as ownership of a 58.8 megawatt (MW) fuel cell park has been finalized.
This fuel cell park, which will be the world's largest, will utilize ultra-clean and efficient fuel cell power plants sold by POSCO Energy and based on designs and fuel cell components from FuelCell Energy, Inc.
A share purchase agreement executed October 16, 2012 establishes the Gyeonggi Green Energy Co. Ltd to develop and operate a 58.8 MW fuel cell park in Whasung City, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. The ownership consortium includes the largest electric utility in South Korea, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., Ltd with 49 percent ownership, POSCO Energy with 15 percent ownership, Samchully Co., a gas distributor, with 15 percent ownership, and the remaining 21 percent will be allocated to financial investors. POSCO Energy is the sole provider of the fuel cell power plants for the project, which will consist of 21 DFC3000® power plants located in an industrial complex. POSCO Energy will lead the construction of the fuel cell park and will maintain and service the power plants under a long term service agreement. Construction is scheduled to commence in 2012.
"The renewable portfolio standard is driving demand for efficient and environmentally friendly distributed fuel cell generation as this sizable fuel cell park demonstrates," said Jung-Gon Kim, Senior Vice President, POSCO Energy. "The execution of this share purchase agreement solidifies our demand forecasts for stationary fuel cell power plants and we need to conclude our discussions with FuelCell Energy to confirm the previously announced memorandums of agreement for an additional order and local manufacturing."
"Development of this 58.8 MW fuel cell park illustrates how our stationary fuel cell power plants can be used to support the power grid as the combination of near-zero pollutants, modest land-use needs, and quiet operating nature of these stationary fuel cell power plants facilitates their siting in urban locations," said Chip Bottone, President and Chief Executive Officer, FuelCell Energy, Inc. "Projects such as this fuel cell park support demand for the 120 megawatt order that we are finalizing with POSCO Energy and we expect to conclude an agreement in 2012, as previously stated."
The ultra-clean electricity generated by this fuel cell park will be supplied to the power grid and will assist the partners with compliance under the South Korean Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). The heat generated by the fuel cell power plants will be supplied to a district heating system for local use.
Direct FuelCell® (DFC®) power plants excel at solving energy, environmental and business problems by providing ultra clean, efficient and reliable distributed power generation solutions. Direct FuelCells combine a fuel such as natural gas or renewable biogas with oxygen from the ambient air to efficiently produce ultra-clean electricity and usable high quality heat through an electrochemical process. DFC power plants emit virtually no pollutants due to the absence of combustion.
Source: http://www.fuelcellenergy.com