FuelCell Energy Inc. has announced that it has been awarded a contract for Phase II of the US Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance (SECA) Coal-Based Systems Cooperative Agreement. The total program cost is USD 30.2 million of which USD 21 million will be funded by DOE. Phase II extends from January 2009 through September 2010 and seeks to build a minimum 25kW solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack that meets SECA-targeted requirements for performance and manufacturing cost. The new stack is to be integrated with a 250kW to 1MW fuel cell power module and a 5MW proof-of-concept system that will operate on coal-based syngas (fuel created by reacting coal at high temperatures). The module and proof-of-concept system are to be designed, fabricated and tested in subsequent SECA program phases. The SECA program’s overall goal is to develop megawatt-class coal syngas-based SOFC power plants for use as high efficiency central generation facilities that address the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and for increased energy independence.
