New Jersey conglomerate NRG Energy, which operates nine power plants in Connecticut, has invested $75 million in Danbury clean power manufacturer FuelCell Energy.
NRG agreed to buy 14.6 million shares of FuelCell stock for $35 million. FuelCell plans to use the money from that sale closed on July 31 for project development and finance. The agreement gives NRG the option to buy an additional 2 million shares of stock for $6.7 million.
NRG also created a $40 million revolving loan fund for FuelCell’s project development. The interest rate is 8.5 percent for the first five years after each construction project begins and 8 percent thereafter.
The New Jersey company believes distributed power generation from fuel cells will be an important technology as the country pushes for cleaner energy, said Mauricio Gutierrez, NRG chief operating officer.
