The Town of Colchester, Connecticut, and Bloom Energy, a leading energy firm, announced the installation of ten megawatts of highly efficient fuel cells to assist the municipality in meeting its sustainable energy needs.
In comparison to current displaced grid options, the Bloom Energy Servers will lower community carbon emissions by 3,850 tons per year and smog-forming pollution and particulate matter by more than 99 percent.
Bloom Energy’s fuel-flexible solid oxide fuel cell technology generates electricity from natural gas, biogas, or hydrogen via an electrochemical process that eliminates the need for combustion, achieving one of the greatest efficiencies of any power solution available today.
This project is consistent with Connecticut’s efforts to expand the use of clean and renewable energy. The Bloom Energy project in Colchester was chosen as part of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s (DEEP) Request for Proposals for Clean Energy. Along with the deployment of fuel cells, other projects considered included offshore wind and anaerobic digestion.
Colchester, with its stunning natural resources and abundance of outdoor activities, is an ideal location for a sustainable energy project, all the more so given the town’s designation by the National Wildlife Federation as a “Community Wildlife Habitat.” Colchester will be able to minimize its reliance on heating oil and hence its carbon footprint by introducing more clean and renewable energy options to the community.
“We are environmental stewards of this land and of our planet,” said Mary Bylone, first selectman of the Town of Colchester. “Implementing clean energy solutions, such as Bloom Energy Servers, aligns with our dedication to our land, wildlife, and the future generations of our community.”
“We are focused on helping communities reduce emissions, build energy resilience, and meet their sustainability goals, through our distributed, always-on, non-combustion process of generating clean electricity,” said Kris Kim, vice president of global commercial operations, Bloom Energy. “We are proud to support the town of Colchester and the state of Connecticut in the pursuit of a clean energy future that will drive positive environmental impact and support the health of local citizens.”
