Publication date: 31-November-2003 
Source:Associated Press

Thomas Flower, head of the Orlando, Fla.-based company's fuel cells division, said Siemens was delaying plans for the plant in Munhall indefinitely and would instead invest $2 million at an existing plant in another suburb.

"We are convinced that fuel cell technology has a great future. ... My target is to make this a commercially viable business, to turn this around and make something out of this," Flower said Friday.

Fuel cells produce electricity using natural gas and are designed as a cleaner, more efficient energy alternative for industrial, hospital, office and military buildings.

When Siemens Westinghouse, a subsidiary of Siemens, based in Munich, Germany, announced plans in 2001 for the 180,000-square-foot plant in Munhall, a former steel town, politicians and economic experts called it a coup. Site Selection Magazine named called the plant the "Breakthrough Deal for 2001."

But the plant quickly began slipping away. In April, Siemens Westinghouse delayed plans to open the plant until 2006, joining several companies that backed away from fuel cell development.

Siemens Westinghouse said the fuel cells remain too expensive to compete with traditional sources of electricity production.