|
BOZEMAN, Mont., June 17, 2003 -- Zoot Enterprises announced that they have received two fuel cell power plants that will be installed at its Galactic Park high-technology campus located eight miles west of Bozeman.
Zoot plans to use the two 250-kilowatt Direct FuelCell® (DFC®) power plants manufactured by FuelCell Energy, Inc. (NasdaqNM:FCEL) of Danbury, Conn. in conjunction with traditional diesel fuel generators and the electric grid to meet the electrical reliability requirements of its building and to support future development for its online credit processing operations at the campus.
"We are truly excited that we have reached the next milestone in bringing clean, reliable fuel cell power to Galactic Park," says Chris Nelson, founder and CEO of Zoot Enterprises. "The delivery of these two units keeps us on track to have the fuel cells up and running by late summer."
The DFC power plants use natural gas for fuel and produce electric power and hot water for heating and domestic uses.
Zoot Enterprises purchased the fuel cells from the distributed generation arm of PPL EnergyPlus, which has a sales and marketing office in Butte. Additionally, PPL has an equity investment in FuelCell Energy and is a distributor of its fuel cells in North America.
Fuel cells generate electricity with no combustion. They are, in effect, like large, continuously operating batteries that generate electricity as long as a source of hydrogen, such as natural gas, is supplied. Since the natural gas is not burned, pollution commonly associated with the combustion of fossil fuels is dramatically reduced.
"Fuel cell power plants are an ideal application for the information technology business because they provide a reliable, high quality source of electric power," Nelson said.
The total value of the Zoot fuel cell project is $3.8 million, with $1.4 million provided in the form of a grant from the United States Department of Energy. U.S. senators Max Baucus and Conrad Burns were very active throughout the project and secured federal funding.
The Galactic Park campus, which ultimately is expected to include 14 commercial lots, is the site of Zoot's recently completed 155,000-square-foot headquarters building. The headquarters building will house 410 employees at full capacity, including an electronic data processing center that performs the company's core business functions.
About Zoot Enterprises
Zoot Enterprises is the nation's leader in providing advanced instant credit decisioning solutions. The ability to meet virtually any credit origination need has led to long-term partnerships with seven of the top ten banks in America. A series of innovative products has allowed Zoot to reduce its customers' time to market from weeks to hours. Visit www.zootweb.com or call 406-586-5050 for more information.
About Direct FuelCells
Direct FuelCells efficiently generate clean electricity at distributed locations near the customer, including hospitals, schools, universities, hotels and other commercial and industrial facilities, as well as in grid support applications for utility customers. In essence, Direct FuelCells are like large, continuously operating batteries that generate electricity as long as fuel, such as natural gas, is supplied. Since the fuel is not burned, there is no pollution commonly associated with the combustion of fossil fuels. Because hydrogen is generated directly within the fuel cell module from readily available fuels such as natural gas and wastewater treatment gas, DFC power plants are ready today and do not require the creation of a hydrogen infrastructure. This high-efficiency technology generates more electric power from less fuel and with less carbon dioxide emissions than traditional methods using combustion. Operating on biomass fuels, such as wastewater treatment digester gas, Direct FuelCells are a renewable technology.
About FuelCell Energy, Inc.
FuelCell Energy, Inc., based in Danbury, Connecticut, is a world leader in the development and manufacturing of highly efficient hydrogen fuel cells for clean electric power generation, currently offering DFC power plant products ranging in size from 250 kilowatts to 2 megawatts for applications up to 50 megawatts.
The Company has developed commercial distribution alliances for its carbonate Direct FuelCell technology with MTU CFC Solutions Gmbh, a company of DaimlerChrysler AG, in Europe; Marubeni Corporation in Asia; and Caterpillar, PPL Energy Plus, Chevron Energy Solutions and Alliance Power in the U.S. FuelCell Energy is developing Direct FuelCell technology for stationary power plants with the U.S. Department of Energy through their Office of Fossil Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory. More information is available at www.fuelcellenergy.com.
About PPL Corporation
PPL EnergyPlus is the marketing and sales arm of PPL Corporation. Headquartered in Allentown, Pa., PPL Corporation controls about 11,500 megawatts of generating capacity in the United States, sells energy in key U.S. markets, and delivers electricity to customers in Pennsylvania, the United Kingdom and Latin America.
| 
Articles 
| View all PennWell sites | View all PennWell events
Add RSS Feed
