Dispatch Energy LLC has brought online a 4-megawatt fuel cell power plant at the Bunnell Block industrial park in Bridgeport, developed in partnership with United Illuminating Co. on a former brownfield site.
The project, announced Wednesday, is part of Connecticut’s Shared Clean Energy Facility program and will supply baseload power to an estimated 3,393 homes while reducing past emissions from the site by 50%, according to the company.
The facility represents an example of distributed energy development in densely populated urban areas that traditionally cannot accommodate large-scale renewable projects. The Bunnell Block site previously housed an abandoned industrial building and manufacturing company.
Rich Dovere, Dispatch Energy’s CEO, said fuel cells are a solution for grid reliability amid growing energy demand from data centers and artificial intelligence applications.
“Bridgeport serves as an example of the potential for fuel cells to supply high-density communities with low-cost, clean energy,” Dovere said.
Unlike intermittent renewable sources like solar and wind, fuel cells generate power continuously.
Dispatch Energy, based in New York, is a distributed energy provider that has managed over $1.5 billion in operating generation assets, according to the company.
