New York's Freedom Tower, the skyscraper being constructed on the site of the World Trade Center, is to use fuel cells to power its heating and cooling systems, it was revealed yesterday.
UTC Power, the fuel cell division of engineering conglomerate United Technologies, announced that it has received orders from the New York Power Authority (NYPA) for 12 fuel cells totalling 4.8Mw of power to serve the Freedom Tower and three other new towers under construction at the site in Manhattan.
The company said that the new PureCell Model 400 fuel cells would be delivered from early next year and would represent one of the largest fuel cell installations in the world.
UTC Power president Jan van Dokkum said that the deal underlined the growing commercial viability of fuel cell technologies. "We expect this next-generation fuel cell to be embraced by commercial customers which want to improve their energy productivity while simultaneously enhancing their electrical infrastructure reliability and reducing their environmental impact," he said.
Each of the fuel cells will use a chemical reaction to generate electricity as well as heat that will be reused to power the tower's heating and cooling systems.
Speaking to BusinessGreen.com earlier this year, Van Dokkum said that the combined heat and power fuel cell costs the same as previous versions - around $1m to buy and install - but delivers 400Kw as opposed to 200Kw of energy and lasts twice as long.
The company has calculated that the improvements allow it to generate electricity that costs 12 cents per kw/h, making it competitive with power from the grid costing between eight and 19 cents per kw/h in the US.
He added the company was "extremely pleased" to be involved in a landmark project that represented a "global example of green building design".
"We are committed to helping make clean energy initiatives at the new World Trade Center site a reality," said Roger B. Kelley, NYPA president and chief executive officer. "Fuel cells are one of the environmentally beneficial technologies that the authority is investing in… to combat greenhouse gas emissions and diversify the state's energy mix."
The new tower is reported to incorporate a wide range of clean technologies, including solar panels, energy efficient appliances and wind turbines, and is due to meet the requirements of the US Green Building Council’s LEED Gold certification. All of the facilities involved are also expected to be built to a design standard 20 per cent more energy efficient than the New York Energy Conservation Construction Code.
New public-private joint venture aiming to deliver mass market fuel cell products within 12 years 16 Oct 2008
From mystery green cars to the promise of high speed rail, BusinessGreen.com runs down the most popular stories from the last seven days 26 Jun 2009
Renewables to be used to create hydrogen which will be used in fuel cells to smooth intermittent electricity supply 09 Jul 2008
Wind turbines on the roof and fuel cells in the basement form just part of $350m project 25 Jun 2009
Research team predicts commercially available products within five to 10 years 13 Aug 2008
Survey of public sector IT managers reveals deep concern over ability to deliver on carbon-neutral targets 03 Jul 2009
Fresh funding will provide new wave energy research equipment and support research 03 Jul 2009
EPA hints it could soon raise efficiency bar for routers, modems and storage systems 03 Jul 2009
More news
From record-breaking solar panels to the International Renewable Energy Agency's new home, we round up the top stories from the past week 03 Jul 2009
Well, I hope they got a no win, no fee deal. I don't like being cynical (it's more of a congenital thing)... 03 Jul 2009
Recycling waste heat is nothing new, so why has the computer industry not kept up? 01 Jul 2009 More in-depth
Post your comment
Send an email to the Business Green editor at feedback@businessgreen.com
