Westerville Will Be Energy Guinea Pig
Pollution-free fuel cell to power 180 homes in state initiative
Friday, February 28, 2003
NEWS 01A
By Mike Lafferty
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Illustration: Graphic
Space-age technology will light Westerville homes by autumn, when a fuel cell begins producing pollution-free electricity.The city is installing a $1.3 million, 250-kilowatt unit -- the first of its kind in the nation.
Westerville officials said the technology will light about 180 homes.Fuel cells generate energy from a chemical, usually hydrogen. In this case, the hydrogen is supplied by natural gas. Water and heat, rather than smoke and gases from burning coal and oil, are the byproducts
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"We're going to be able to demonstrate a power supply that is reliable and environmentally friendly,'' Andy Boatright, Westerville electric utility manager, said yesterday.Fuel cells have been used to power spacecraft for decades and are slowly being adapted for use on Earth as their technology improves.
The state, which is pushing the technology as an alternative fuel source and a future prop to the state's industrial sector, is providing $839,000 for the project. Westerville is paying the remainder of the cost, but Boatright said the city would seek additional grants.
As part of its Third Frontier initiative, Ohio plans to spend $103 million on fuel-cell research during the next three years."The estimates are that this will be a $100 billion business by 2020 and we want a big piece of that,'' said Ohio Gov. Bob Taft, who visited Westerville yesterday to announce the state grant.Pat Valente, the state Development Department's technology chief, said Westerville received the state grant, in part, because of its reputation for promoting energy efficiency.
The city has solar-electricity projects in local schools, educational programs for children and a program that allows residents to conduct home-energy audits.
FuelCell Energy of Danbury, Conn., will build the 28-foot-long, 85,000-pound unit at the city's McCorkle Boulevard substation.
The unit makes little noise, the water it produces can be discharged directly into a city sewer, and, because there are few moving parts, there's little to break, according to American Municipal Power of Ohio, the city's partner in the project.But the juice is expensive.Even with the state subsidy, Boatright said, fuel-cell electricity is expected to cost about 9 cents per kilowatt hour, compared to about 6.5 cents for the energy the utility buys.
Prices, however, are expected to drop as technology improves and fossil-fuel use becomes more expensive.Boatright said customers can sign up for a portion of what the city is calling "green power.''
"Surveys indicate there are customers who will want to sign up for this and pay more,'' he said.While use in automobiles is considered the Holy Grail of fuel-cell research, the industry now is focused on so-called stationary units such as the Westerville prototype, Battelle researcher Frank Jakob said.Battelle is developing fuel cells for a variety of uses, including miniature versions soldiers can carry on their belts to provide power for portable electronic equipment.
The fuel cell will mark Westerville's first effort to generate electricity for its 14,500 customers. That's a key benefit, Jakob said, because fuel cells offer the opportunity to expand power supply without building more transmission lines from the power plant to users."You can bring the power generation right into the city.''
mlafferty@dispatch.com
Caption: How a fuel cell works
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