A Danbury company”™s international connection has lead to a new University of Connecticut energy research center.
For years FuelCell Energy in Danbury has partnered with Fraunhofer to develop a German market for fuel-cell plants. And now the German energy giant has established a new research center at UConn. The company is the largest applied research and development organization in Europe.
“I”™d say it really is a feather in their hats for the folks at UConn,” said Kirk Goddard, FuelCell vice president of investor relations. “This is only their seventh research center. There are a lot of universities that would gladly partner with them and UConn was able to close the deal.”
Researchers at UConn”™s now open Fraunhofer Center for Energy Innovation plan to develop technologies related to energy storage, fuel cells, microgrids and other power management systems.
Through a complex process, fuel cells convert fuels such as natural gas and biogas into electricity, emitting only a minute amount of pollutants.
Kazem Kazerounian, UConn”™s interim dean of the School of Engineering, said the school”™s research center was already one of the most advanced centers in the country, especially for green and sustainable energy.
“What this partnership does is bring the technologies developed much closer to the market price,” Kazerounian said. The school hopes to generate technologies ready for commercialization, followed by spinoff companies led by researchers and school faculty.
Kazerounian said the center anticipates a roughly $1.8 million annual budget, which can support about 10 research teams of up to five graduate students and faculty members. The center is currently located at UConn”™s Depot campus and will relocate to the UConn Technology Park in Storrs when it opens.
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, which has supported UConn”™s Center for Clean Energy Engineering since 2006, is also a key partner for the new center.
“This is a win for everyone that touches it,” Goddard said. “The state of Connecticut has a position of leadership when it comes to clean energy engineering. There are a lot of suppliers and manufacturers here and with more research here it”™s just an extension of the value chain.”
“The more familiarity there is with the technologies and production, both in and out of UConn, the better for the industry and the state,” he added.
Beyond introducing Fraunhofer and UConn representatives, Goddard said FuelCell doesn”™t have an active role in the new research center, though it does have several separate partnership with UConn professors and researchers. However Goddard said FuelCell officials are excited to see what technologies and products the center will develop to advance the field.
With the announcement of the new center, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said the new partnership between the state, UConn and Fraunhofer was an important step in finding solutions to pressing energy challenges.
“With the resources, talent, and expertise of UConn and Fraunhofer, we expect to see technological breakthroughs,” Malloy said in a statement. “(They) will help deliver a cheaper, cleaner, and more reliable energy future for Connecticut, the nation, and the world.”
