Agilent Technologies is now using Bloom Energy Servers at its Little Falls site and its headquarters.
Bloom operates a manufacturing site at the University of Delaware STAR Campus in Newark.
Agilent recently installed Bloom servers, capable of producing 3.5 megawatts of power, at its corporate headquarters in Santa Clara, CA and a business unit in Little Falls, an area west of Wilmington.
Agilent, among other things, manufactures advanced instruments used in laboratories.
According to Bloom, Agilent will lower its carbon footprint by almost 4,000 metric tons of CO2 each year. The servers generate electricity around the clock will reduce net water use and improve air quality by replacing most of the power Agilent previously drew from the grid.
Bloom Energy Servers generate electricity without combustion. Instead, the servers use solid oxide fuel cell technology. Bloom’s fuel cells convert natural gas or biogas into electricity via an electrochemical process.
According to the company, Energy Servers generate low-emission power 24 hours a day, 365 days per year, thereby reducing greenhouse-gas emissions by amounts comparable to zero-emission wind and solar power over the course of a year.
The system will be the equivalent of removing a combined 1,003 cars from the road each year, Bloom stated.
The Energy Servers also generate virtually none of the smog-forming particulate emissions, the company stated. California and northern Delaware are known for their high levels of such emissions.
Bloom Energy Servers use virtually no water in normal operation, which is especially important in California. By comparison, power plants supplying electricity to the California grid consume 150 million gallons of water more per megawatt of electricity yearly than Bloom Energy Servers.
Agilent was recently being ranked No. 3 on Barron’s “100 Most Sustainable Companies in 2019” list. Agilent is committed to reducing energy consumption by 10 percent. Agilent has commissioned more than 18 energy- and water-conservation projects at its sites around the world, leading to a potential annual energy saving of about 8,000-megawatt hours.
“We are proud of our longstanding commitment to sustainability and believe it’s our responsibility to help build a better world,” said Mike McMullen, CEO of Agilent Technologies. “The work we do truly reflects our values, our mission and is a foundation of our culture.”
“Bloom Energy is thrilled to partner with Agilent to minimize its environmental footprint and improve local air quality,” said KR Sridhar, founder, chairman, and CEO of Bloom Energy. “We are delighted to provide clean power to its facilities and laboratories where their amazing researchers and technologists work on the next wave of breakthroughs.”
Bloom is based in San Jose, CA.
Bloom spokesman David McCulloch said several Bloom servers are in operation in Delaware. Bloom powers a JPMorgan Chase data center in the Newark area. Other installations are not publicly disclosed.
Bloom’s biggest installations in Delaware are at two Delmarva Power sites. The servers feed power into the grid under an agreement with the State of Delaware. The electricity counts toward Delaware’s mandate for a quarter of its electricity to come from alternative sources by 2025.
