California fuel cell manufacturer Bloom Energy is proposing putting one of its Bloom Boxes at the Macy’s distribution center in Cheshire.
The 600 kilowatt fuel cell facility will provide the critical electric load for the distribution center and sell excess electricity onto the power grid, according to Bloom’s filing with the Connecticut Siting Council. The fuel cell would be powered by natural gas.
The state Clean Energy Finance & Investment Authority is providing a $913,121 grant to help fund the project, and the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority has classified it as a Class I renewable energy source.
In addition to powering Macy’s, Bloom intends to use the fuel cell to generate renewable energy credits and sell to help electricity suppliers meet their state-required renewable energy goals.
While Connecticut is one of only a handful of state that consider fuel cells a top-tier renewable energy, Bloom’s further push into Connecticut is significant, since the state is home to the top two fuel cell manufacturers: FuelCell Energy of Danbury and ClearEdge Power of South Windsor.
