State University of New York’s Downstate Medical Center will get a Bloom Energy fuel cell system as the company works to tap into market niches
Bloom and Con Edison will supply a portion of the campus’ energy needs will be met through a 1.8-megawatt fuel cell system. Much of Bloom’s manufacturing takes place at its plant in Newark, DE.
The “Bloom Box” fuel cell will provide 45 percent of Downstate’s base electrical load, including two-thirds of the electricity needs of the University Hospital of Brooklyn which operates around the clock.
“The use of distributed generation to help supplement traditional utility infrastructure is a cutting-edge idea that supports the vitality of communities,” said Bloom Energy Chief Operating Officer Susan Brennan. “Bloom Energy’s fuel cells are uniquely suited to this kind of project. We provide an extremely compact, energy-dense platform that can be relied upon for clean, affordable electricity 24 hours a day, 365 days every year.”
Bloom has been championing distributed generation that can meet demand challenges in some areas as well as provide power to critical facilities such as emergency centers and hospitals in large-scale outages or disasters such as hurricanes.
The company has been touting a “microgrid” that provides power in Hartford, CT, including backup capabilities for facilities in need of emergency power (See video above)
Brooklyn and other boroughs in New York City have been undergoing an economic revival that is changing electrical usage. There have also been worries about the effects on the power grid of superstorms like Hurricane Sandy.
The campus will also see significant savings as the fuel cells will decrease Downstate’s demand on Con Edison by half. With its Neighborhood Program that was used at the medical site, Con Edison can defer investments in traditional energy infrastructure, saving money for its customers, a release stated. Con Edison is expanding the concept to other areas of New York, a city once prone to power outages.
Con Edison’s original goal was to close a 52-megawatt gap with non-traditional solutions with an investment of $200 million. The company met the goal with $60 million left over and received permission from regulators to invest that money in additional alternative energy solutions.
The utility has worked with customers on solar installations, battery storage, energy efficiency and other technologies to cut usage and lower the bills of residential and business customers.
One of Bloom’s largest fuel cell installation feeds electricity from “Bloom boxes” to Delmarva Power customers under an agreement that led to the construction of the Newark plant.
Since the agreement that pays above market rates for Bloom-generated power went into force, wholesale power prices have dropped as supplies remain generous and natural gas, solar and wind power enters the mix.
Even with incentives for Bloom servers, deployments have been limited in Delaware, due to the higher electric costs, even at data center and other sites that could use the backup power capabilities of its servers.
The lack of growth in jobs has led to continued controversy over the higher power costs as Bloom fell far short of projections for the Newark site employing 900 people. The head count now stands at more than 335.
There are also concerns about toxic wastes generated by the Bloom technology, which was first developed in NASA efforts to provide power for space colonies.
Bloom officials responded with the following:
“There is no risk to the public from the normal operation and servicing of Bloom Energy Servers. We operate our servers in full compliance with all applicable EPA and state-level regulations.”
Bloom recently filed the first step in a stock offering. Filings indicated the company has cut losses but expects to be unprofitable for the foreseeable future.
(Editor’s note: Bloom officials issued updated information on the Newark plant’s employment figures and said allegations of fuel cells generating waste are unfounded).
