The week in business could be summed up in one word – Bloom.
The manufacturer and the University of Delaware held a ceremonial groundbreaking at the newly dubbed “STAR” science and technology campus at the site of the Chrysler plant in Newark.
Bloom builds energy “servers” that use catalytic technology to make electricity from natural gas, landfill gas and other fuels.
Gov. Jack Markell was praised by speaker after speaker for his work in making the project a reality. Not mentioned was Fisker, the automaker that has indicated it could walk away from a project to build a new generation of hybrid autos at the former General Motors plant
Key to the Newark deal is the use of Bloom energy servers under a deal with Delmarva Power.
The large installation at sites in New Castle County would allow the utility to move toward fulfilling its alternative energy mandate from the state. Delmarva customers are expected to see less than $20 a year added to their bills.
That angers some critics who claim the mandate will drive away business by keeping electricity prices high.
Delmarva Region President Gary Stockbridge said the utility likes the reliability of what are known as Bloom Boxes and the fact that charges will drop under the long-term contract.
The key or “secret sauce” to the Bloom technology remains something of a mystery, something that U.S. Sen. Chris Coons alluded to in his remarks at the event.
Most Bloom energy servers are in place, thanks in large part to various incentives and pledges by Fortune 500 companies to sharply increase their use of clean energy.
The University of Delaware may play a part in reducing those costs, thanks to a partnership with Bloom that will work to improve manufacturing efficiency. Work also continues in improving efficiency of the servers.
Costs of producing electricity remain hard to figure, since Bloom is privately held and does not have to release such information.
In the meantime, Bloom is targeting the “mission critical” market that needs reliable back-up power. Installation of the servers would allow the companies to feed electricity into the grid and use the energy for their own operations during outages or periods of peak demand.
One large installation of Bloom servers will take place at a data center operated by Apple Inc.
Yes, there was other news in the business world.
– A measure to regulate payday loan shops that are widespread in Delaware appeared to be on its way to passage.
Rather than outlaw the loans that carry rates running into the hundreds of percentage points, the legislation limits the number of loans and the rollovers that often follow. Rollovers are loans that are extended because the borrower cannot pay off the principal and hefty interest.
– DuPont bought out Bunge’s joint venture minority interest in Solae, a maker of soy-based ingredients. Solae. DuPont is betting on food ingredients as a growth area. It earlier acquired Denmark’s Danisco.
– Dover-based Chesapeake Utilities reports lower first quarter earnings, due to a warmer winter in Florida and the Delmarva Peninsula. The company continued to expand its natural gas service.
– In energy news, a unit of Delta Airlines will pay $150 million for a refinery in Trainer, Delaware County, Pa. Delta estimates it can use the refinery to save $300 million a year in jet fuel costs. The sale raised faint hopes that the Sunoco refinery in Marcus Hook could find a buyer. A small part of the refinery is in Delaware. Speaking of Sunoco, the Philadelphia company was sold to a Texas-based pipeline partnership for more than $5 billion. The company had been weakened by losses at its refineries.
