FuelCellsWorks

Power Plant Helps Maintain Continuous Base Operations While Helping Department of Defense Meet Its Energy Efficiency Targets

DANBURY, Conn.–FuelCell Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq:FCEL), a leading manufacturer of high efficiency, ultra-clean power plants using renewable and other fuels for commercial, industrial, government and utility customers, today announced the sale of a 300 kilowatt (kW) Direct FuelCell(r) (DFC(r)) power plant to improve the availability of reliable and environmentally friendly electricity for Barksdale Air Force Base (AFB) in Louisiana.

The DFC power plant was purchased by Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC), under contract with the United States Air Force Advanced Power Technology Office (APTO). CTC will provide research, design, development, testing, demonstration, and sustainment of the 300 kW carbonate fuel cell system at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana. The system is expected to be operational in early 2010.

The U.S. government is the largest electricity consumer in the world, with thousands of government buildings and military facilities in the U.S. and abroad. As the government continues to deploy ultra-clean, efficient DFC power plants, it will reduce its emissions and peak power requirements while increasing power reliability.

DFC fuel cell power plants generate power electrochemically, without combustion, producing near-zero air pollutants like NOX, SOX and particulate matter. FuelCell Energy’s power plants generate baseload electricity 24/7 with 47 percent electrical efficiency, compared to 25 to 40 percent for combustion-based technology their size. When used in a combined heat and power application where the fuel cell’s byproduct heat is being used for hot water or for space heating, DFC power plants can achieve up to 80 percent system efficiency. This efficiency results in significantly reduced CO2 emissions and lower power costs.

As a key Air Combat Command base, Barksdale has a pivotal role in the nation’s deterrent force and serves as headquarters for the 2nd Bomb Wing, the oldest bomber wing in the Air Force. DFC power plants increase energy reliability and security because they operate locally independent of the grid. The DFC300 will support Barksdale’s critical operations in emergencies such as blackouts, natural disasters, weather events and other threats to the grid. By supplementing the base’s power grid with 24/7 baseload power, the DFC power plant increases the availability and reliability of Barksdale’s power supply.

“DFC power plants are a high-efficiency, distributed power generation solution that meets Barksdale’s high reliability and security requirements,” said Bill Foster, Vice President Government Business Development for FuelCell Energy. “Installing a DFC power plant furthers the U.S. Department of Defense plan to increase energy efficiency and use more clean generation sources as set forth in the Energy Policy Act of 2005.”

About FuelCell Energy

FuelCell Energy is the world leader in the development and production of stationary fuel cells for commercial, industrial, municipal and utility customers. FuelCell Energy’s ultra-clean and high efficiency DFC(r) fuel cells are generating power at over 50 locations worldwide. The company’s power plants have generated more than 275 million kWh of power using a variety of fuels including renewable wastewater gas, biogas from beer and food processing, as well as natural gas and other hydrocarbon fuels. FuelCell Energy has partnerships with major power plant developers and power companies around the world. The company also receives funding from the U.S. Department of Energy and other government agencies for the development of leading edge technologies such as fuel cells. For more information, please visit our website at www.fuelcellenergy.com.

About Concurrent Technologies Corporation

Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC) is an independent, nonprofit, applied scientific research and development professional services organization providing innovative management and technology-based solutions to government and industry. As a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, CTC’s primary purpose and programs are to undertake applied scientific research and development activities that serve the public interest. For more information, visit www.ctc.com.

About Advanced Power Technology Office

The APTO was established by the United States Air Force to lead, manage and coordinate the USAF role in integrating advanced power and alternative-energy technologies into the USAF inventory of: ground vehicles, support equipment, Basic Expeditionary Airfield Resources (BEAR), fuel cell equipment, and base infrastructure. The APTO resides in the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. The goals of APTO are to provide increased capabilities and benefits to the warfighter; support the Air Force’s environmental and energy policy requirements and reduce dependency on foreign energy sources by the insertion of advanced power technologies. For more information, visit www.robins.af.mil/units/apto.asp.

This news release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the Company’s plans and expectations regarding the continuing development and commercialization of its fuel cell technology. All forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Factors that could cause such a difference include, without limitation, general risks associated with product development, manufacturing, changes in the utility regulatory environment, potential volatility of energy prices, rapid technological change, competition, and the Company’s ability to achieve its sales plans and cost reduction targets, as well as other risks set forth in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements contained herein speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any such statement to reflect any change in the Company’s expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

Direct FuelCell, DFC, DFC/T and FuelCell Energy, Inc. are all registered trademarks of FuelCell Energy, Inc. DFC-ERG is a trademark jointly owned by Enbridge, Inc. and FuelCell Energy, Inc.

The design of efficient systems for splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen, driven by sunlight is among the most important challenges facing science today, underpinning the long term potential of hydrogen as a clean, sustainable fuel. But man-made systems that exist today are very inefficient and often require additional use of sacrificial chemical agents. In this context, it is important to establish new mechanisms by which water splitting can take place.

Now, a unique approach developed by Prof. David Milstein and colleagues of the Weizmann Institute’s Organic Chemistry Department, provides important steps in overcoming this challenge. During this work, the team demonstrated a new mode of bond generation between oxygen atoms and even defined the mechanism by which it takes place. In fact, it is the generation of oxygen gas by the formation of a bond between two oxygen atoms originating from water molecules that proves to be the bottleneck in the water splitting process. Their results have recently been published in Science.

Nature, by taking a different path, has evolved a very efficient process: photosynthesis – carried out by plants – the source of all oxygen on Earth. Although there has been significant progress towards the understanding of photosynthesis, just how this system functions remains unclear; vast worldwide efforts have been devoted to the development of artificial photosynthetic systems based on metal complexes that serve as catalysts, with little success. (A catalyst is a substance that is able to increase the rate of a chemical reaction without getting used up.)

The new approach that the Weizmann team has recently devised is divided into a sequence of reactions, which leads to the liberation of hydrogen and oxygen in consecutive thermal- and light-driven steps, mediated by a unique ingredient – a special metal complex that Milstein’s team designed in previous studies. Moreover, the one that they designed – a metal complex of the element ruthenium – is a ‘smart’ complex in which the metal center and the organic part attached to it cooperate in the cleavage of the water molecule.

The team found that upon mixing this complex with water the bonds between the hydrogen and oxygen atoms break, with one hydrogen atom ending up binding to its organic part, while the remaining hydrogen and oxygen atoms (OH group) bind to its metal center.

This modified version of the complex provides the basis for the next stage of the process: the ‘heat stage.’ When the water solution is heated to 100 degrees C, hydrogen gas is released from the complex – a potential source of clean fuel – and another OH group is added to the metal center.

‘But the most interesting part is the third ‘light stage,’’ says Milstein. ‘When we exposed this third complex to light at room temperature, not only was oxygen gas produced, but the metal complex also reverted back to its original state, which could be recycled for use in further reactions.’

These results are even more remarkable considering that the generation of a bond between two oxygen atoms promoted by a man-made metal complex is a very rare event, and it has been unclear how it can take place. Yet Milstein and his team have also succeeded in identifying an unprecedented mechanism for such a process. Additional experiments have indicated that during the third stage, light provides the energy required to cause the two OH groups to get together to form hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), which quickly breaks up into oxygen and water. ‘Because hydrogen peroxide is considered a relatively unstable molecule, scientists have always disregarded this step, deeming it implausible; but we have shown otherwise,’ says Milstein. Moreover, the team has provided evidence showing that the bond between the two oxygen atoms is generated within a single molecule – not between oxygen atoms residing on separate molecules, as commonly believed – and it comes from a single metal center.

Discovery of an efficient artificial catalyst for the sunlight-driven splitting of water into oxygen and hydrogen is a major goal of renewable clean energy research. So far, Milstein’s team has demonstrated a mechanism for the formation of hydrogen and oxygen from water, without the need for sacrificial chemical agents, through individual steps, using light. For their next study, they plan to combine these stages to create an efficient catalytic system, bringing those in the field of alternative energy an important step closer to realizing this goal.

Participating in the research were former postdoctoral student Stephan Kohl, Ph.D. student Leonid Schwartsburd and technician Yehoshoa Ben-David all of the Organic Chemistry Department, together with staff scientists Lev Weiner, Leonid Konstantinovski, Linda Shimon and Mark Iron of the Chemical Research Support Department.

Prof. David Milstein’s research is supported by the Mary and Tom Beck-Canadian Center for Alternative Energy Research; and the Helen and Martin Kimmel Center for Molecular Design. Prof. Milstein is the incumbent of the Israel Matz Professorial Chair of Organic Chemistry.

The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, is one of the world’s top-ranking multidisciplinary research institutions. Noted for its wide-ranging exploration of the natural and exact sciences, the Institute is home to 2,600 scientists, students, technicians and supporting staff. Institute research efforts include the search for new ways of fighting disease and hunger, examining leading questions in mathematics and computer science, probing the physics of matter and the universe, creating novel materials and developing new strategies for protecting the environment.

Melbourne-based clean energy company Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited [ASX/AIM: CFU], a global leader in fuel cell development, today announced it has entered into an agreement with ASX listed litigation funding company IMF (Australia) Limited to recover lost investment funds.

Ceramic Fuel Cells is taking legal action against various parties to recover losses suffered when Ceramic Fuel Cells’ funds were invested in a range of structured financial products.

Under the funding agreement, IMF (Australia) Limited will pay the costs of Ceramic Fuel Cells’ legal action, including all legal fees, in return for a success fee. Ceramic Fuel Cells is being advised by the law firm DLA Phillips Fox.

The claim is expected to be for about $25 million.