Pepperidge Farm plugs into fuel cells - Westfair Communications

FuelCell Energy Inc. of Danbury will install a 1.2-megawatt fuel cell at Pepperidge Farm”™s Bloomfield bakery that will, coupled with a smaller 250-kilowatt fuel cell installed in early 2006, provide about 70 percent of the bakery”™s required electricity.

The fuel cell installation is supported by the ratepayer-funded Connecticut Clean Energy Fund, which promotes the development and commercialization of clean energy technologies. It will provide $3.5 million of the cost.

The fuel cell at the 260,000-square-foot plant, which opened in 2003, should be operational by next summer, and will supply about 57 percent of the total electrical needs for the bakery. The smaller, 250-kilowatt fuel cell that was installed with assistance from the Clean Energy Fund and FuelCell Energy will boost the output to 70 percent of the electricity needs. Excess heat from the new fuel cell will be channeled to support the bakery process, reducing fuel need for plant boilers, Pepperidge Farm said.

Richard Shaw, director of business development for FuelCell, said that “when a customer like Pepperidge Farm signals its satisfaction by substantially expanding its investment in FuelCell power plants, it can serve as a model to for others.” The fuel cell will be manufactured at the company”™s Torrington plant.

Robert Furbee, senior vice president of operations at the Norwalk-based Pepperidge Farm, said the company”™s business initiative is “a great partnership among Connecticut entities committed to pursuing clean, alternative energy sources for the state.”