Danbury manufacturer FuelCell Energy announced it will add more than 100 new manufacturing jobs at its Torrington facility over the next year due to recent state investments and several new projects including one in Hartford.
FuelCell on Wednesday said the expansion will boost the Torrington plant’s production by 120 percent, or to 55 megawatts vs. its current output of 25 megawatts.
The manufacturer said its growing after the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) awarded it two fuel-cell projects to build plants in Hartford and Derby, totaling 22.2 megawatts.
Specifically in Hartford, the company will erect a 7.4-megawatt fuel cell at 441 Homestead Ave.
FuelCell CEO and PresidentChip Bottone said the growth can be attributed to support from state and local lawmakers, who have recently upped their efforts to support fuel cells,which convert energy produced from a chemical reaction to electrical energy.
“Their efforts have quite literally created more than 100 new high paying, highly skilled advanced manufacturing jobs at our facility alone,” Bottone said.
In June, the state approved four major fuel cell projects as part of a broader clean energy procurement process, including in Hartford and New Britain, which handed a victory to an industry that has complained about a perceived lack of state support.
