Could Fuel Cells Power Clean Coal?

FuelCell Energy (Nasdaq: FCEL) is benefiting from the Obama Administration’s search for a viable clean coal technology.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded the company 
$11.7 million as a cost share to continue development of using fuel cells that run on coal syngas to generate electricity.

The award is for the third phase of the Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance coal-based systems program. The program is a collaboration among the Federal Government, private industry, and academia to develop megawatt-class solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) power plants that use coal syngas to generate electricity.

The objective is to build and operate a 60 kW SOFC module using the cell and stack designs of Versa Power Systems, Inc., a FuelCell Energy technology partner. The goal is for the design to be scalable and modular. It would be able to accommodate many fuels, including coal syngas, natural gas, or renewable biogas.

Since the US has about 25% of the world’s recoverable coal deposits – the largest of any nation – and almost half our power comes from it, the search is on to find a way to use this abundant resource without creating emissions. 

Fuel cells operating on coal syngas can generate clean power with virtually zero pollutants and significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

The 60 kW SOFC module is expected to begin operating in the summer of 2012 at company headquarters in Connecticut.

FuelCell Energy’s fuel cells are currently generating power at over 60 locations worldwide using a variety of fuels including renewable wastewater gas, biogas from beer and food processing, as well as natural gas and other hydrocarbon fuels.