LOGANEnergy Corporation announces the start-up of a 600kWe fuel cell installation that it developed for A Partners LLC, a Fresno real estate firm. The fuel cell power block harnesses three PC25C power plants manufactured by UTC Power, South Windsor, CT and is located adjacent to the real estate company's 12-story Guaranty Savings Building in downtown Fresno.

Ron Allison, owner and developer of the Guaranty Savings Building property, said he decided to incorporate fuel cells into the building's renovation after reading about the success of the U.S. Army CERL Fuel Cell Demonstration Program of the mid 1990's. He explained, "After digesting reports about their program, we felt that fuel cells would be good for our tenants and good for the visibility of our project because they are reliable, clean and efficient. They also put a green signature on our business operations. We selected LOGANEnergy to develop this project because of their experience and reputation within the fuel cell industry."

LOGANEnergy President, Sam Logan, Jr., said the new 600kWe installation was designed to enhance energy security by providing both base load service to the office building and emergency power to support critical electric loads. The system design incorporates a Multi Unit Load Sharing electronics package and a static switch that permits the seamless transfer of fuel cell power to critical circuits following a grid event. This means that the priority electric requirements for the tenants' servers and their communication systems, as well as the electric requirements for the facility's security system and elevator motors, will continue to operate during utility service interruptions.

In addition to power generation, the three fuel cells provide 2.7 MMBtu/h of clean and efficient thermal energy to the building's HVAC loads. In order for this to work effectively, the project developers selected a 100-ton Nishiyodo Adsorption Chiller to cool the first three floors of the building. During cooling months, the chiller draws 1.35 MMBtu/h waste heat from the fuel cells' high-grade heat exchangers to generate 85 tons of equivalent cooling. The same thermal loop doubles as the heat source for all of the facility's domestic hot water. During the heating months, the fuel cells' low-grade heat exchangers provide 1.35 MMBtu/h waste heat to supplement the heat pumps located throughout the building.

Logan noted, "The Fresno fuel cell project is very important for California and the nation. It's a window on a sustainable energy future employing transitional technology that delivers many of those benefits today: clean, distributed power, low emissions, and energy efficiency that challenges the notion of foreign dependencies. Our team views this installation as a prototype for hundreds of similar applications across California and the U.S."

Strategic Mechanical and Champion Industrial Contractors of Fresno, CA provided mechanical engineering and construction services. Electric Motor Shop of Fresno provided electrical engineering and installation services. Utilitech Finance Company of Little Rock, AK provided project financing. .