UConn Debuts Fuel Cell Power Plant

It’s clean; it’s green; and it’s now at a campus near you.

The has partnered with South Windsor's UTC Power of to install its first PureCell stationary fuel cell system at the university’s Depot Campus in Mansfield.

The 400kW fuel cell will provide clean cooling, heating and power to all buildings – including research labs and offices – on the campus. The system – fueled through an electrochemical process – is expected to reduce energy costs and contribute to UConn’s climate action plan to reduce greenhouse gasses, Mun Choi, dean of UConn’s School of Engineering, said Thursday.

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“One of our major objectives as an institution is reducing our carbon emissions and working very hard to be good stewards of the environment,” UConn President Susan Herbst said.

“The installation of this fuel cell is an outstanding contribution to that ongoing effort. We are very grateful to both of our partners, UTC Power and the Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority, for making this possible," Herbst said.

By generating power on-site with the fuel cell, the university will prevent the release of more than 831 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year – the equivalent of planting more than 192 acres of trees, said Joe Triompo, vice president and general manager of UTC Power.

The campus' reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions is expected to equal the environmental benefit of removing more than 110 cars from the road, and save nearly 4 million gallons of water annually, Triompo said.

“These benefits will be realized not just for the students and faculty today, but for many years to come,” Triompo said.

The project was made possible through a federal stimulus grant from Connecticut’s Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority (CEFIA), and was installed at no cost to the university.