FuelCell Energy signs $160M contract for 7.4-MW Hartford power plant
Andrew Larson
Danbury-based FuelCell Energy announced Wednesday that it has inked a $160 million contract with two utility companies to provide 7.4-megawatts of electricity from a fuel cell power plant it will build in Hartford.
The power plant will be located on an industrial site near Brainard Airport and is expected to be completed by December 2026.
It will use natural gas-powered fuel cells to produce electricity, which FuelCell will sell to Eversource and United Illuminating under a 20-year power purchase agreement.
The project is expected to generate more than $160 million in future revenue for FuelCell, the company said.
The announcement comes as the state seeks ways to increase the supply of electricity to help lower energy costs.
FuelCell President and CEO Jason Few said the company appreciates “the state’s goal of increasing ‘always on’ electric supply – especially from sources that use low-emission natural gas and avoid combusting the fuel.”
“Fuel cells are ideal for urban settings because they deliver space-efficient, quiet, and emission-free distributed resilient and reliable energy,” Few said.
FuelCell operates a microgrid at the U.S. Subbase New London, a 15-megawatt power plant in Bridgeport, a 14-megawatt power plant in Derby and a 58.8-megawatt power plant in South Korea.
In 2022, FuelCell shelved a power plant project in Hartford as part of a cost-cutting measure.
TORRINGTON – In a decision that came weeks before the Feb.
12 deadline, the Connecticut Siting Council on Thursday unanimously approved a
3-megawatt solar farm on Lovers Lane.
State Rep. Joe Canino, R-Torrington, said he was on the
remote meeting when the council approved Lodestar Energy’s application to
install the solar farm at 181 and 191 Lovers Lane. Canino, who sent a letter
opposing the application to the council in September 2024, said he will be
looking into the possibility of appealing it.
“It blows my mind,” he said. “The siting council is here to
protect the residents … from the projects that have both environmental
implications and are close to homes.”
A member of the General Assembly’s Energy and Technology
Committee, Canino said the committee will be raising a bill to prevent such
facilities from being built within 500 feet of residential housing.
Residents of the 81-unit Country Woods Condominiums at 187
Lovers Lane expressed shock and dismay over the decision. They had asked for a
200-foot buffer between the property line and the solar array. Lodestar, in a
letter to the council, said that wasn’t possible and it can only leave 100
feet.
Residents of the complex also are concerned about a 17-acre
swath of trees on the 54-acre property that will be culled for the array and a
species of threatened wood turtles that lives there.
“I’m sick over it,” condo resident Carol Muro said. “This is
so heartbreaking. It’s terrible.”
Muro is concerned the clearing of the trees will cause
erosion, and lead to flooding into condo units and the parking lot. She noted
the members of the Connecticut Siting Council are appointed, not elected.
“It’s just disgusting,” she said. “Who the heck are these
people to have the final say? So, did they come and look at what this is going
to do to this property?”
Alina Ida, who lives next door to Muro, has drafted letters
in opposition to the solar farm for the complex’s board. She said condo
residents had hoped to get the array moved further from their property line
because two buildings will see it. Ida, who expressed disappointment with the
decision, wondered where condo residents will turn with their concerns.
“What’s the chain of command when there’s a complaint?” she
asked. “If the shrubs die, if there’s disturbance, if the solar panels get
damaged as a result of lightning or hail storms?”
She also wondered how the solar array will affect their
property values.
State Rep. Jay M. Case, R-Winsted, said local leaders should
have input when solar arrays eat up acreage in their cities and towns.
“It’s frustrating the municipality doesn’t have a say in
what goes on within their borders,” he said. “I hope the legislation this year
will bring light and help municipalities to be at the table.”
Last week, Case put forward a bill that would grant
municipal leaders the power to impose moratoriums on solar projects in towns
and cities. The proposed bill would amend state statutes to allow local zoning
commissions with two or more existing solar farms to approve and reject solar
projects, and enact moratoriums.
Case also noted state Rep. Mary M. Mushinsky, D-Wallingford, put forward a bill banning clear cutting of forests for solar facilities. She has requested that Case amend his bill and add the tree-clearing language.
SLOAN BREWSTER
TORRINGTON – The Church Street bridge will be rehabbed
starting this winter and be completed by August.
The City Council on Tuesday authorized Mayor Elinor C.
Carbone to enter into a $1.5 million contract with McNamee Construction Corp.
of Lincolndale, N.Y., plus up to $70,000 for contingencies, utility relocation
and fluctuations in the amount of materials.
Because the bridge did not qualify for state funding, the
money will come from the city’s Bond Fund and Town Aid Road Fund, city engineer
Paul Kundzins said.
Work includes restoration of the deck and sidewalks,
modifications to the parapet, replacing the deck, waterproofing the membrane,
repaving, girder and end diaphragm repairs, bearing restoration and insulation
of rails, Kundzins said.
“The bridge isn’t in terrible shape,” he said. “The deck and
the girders are still in good enough condition that they don’t need to be
replaced. They just need to be repaired.”
The state Department of Transportation completes inspections
every two years, Kundzins said. The Church Street bridge was among a list of
bridges in the city that needed work based on recent inspections.
The city also conducts its own comprehensive bridge analysis
and rates bridges based on conditions, Kundzins said. Church Street was in the
top five of bridges that need work.
The cost of the project includes repaving Church Street from
Water to High streets.
“We’re doing an overlay on the whole road,” Kundzins said.
“It makes sense if we’re paving the bridge that we might as well pave right
through and do the whole thing.”
The Bogue Road bridge was the first on the list to be
completed. The $2.37 million replacement project wrapped up in April 2023.
“Bogue Road was actually the highest priority,” Kundzins
said.
The bridge on East Albert Street over the Naugatuck River is
next in line for rehabilitation.
Kundzins said most of the work on the Church Street bridge
will not disrupt traffic. The only road closures will be for a short period in
June or July when crews remove the asphalt from the bridge deck, waterproof the
membrane and repave.
“The work up until then is going to be underneath the
bridge,” he said. “You won’t even see the work being done. Even the sidewalk
work we can get done with the road being open.”
Trump deals blow to future of local offshore wind projects
Greg Smith
As promised, President Donald Trump dealt a blow to the offshore wind industry on his first day in office Monday by signing an executive order that halts new leases for offshore wind farms in federal waters.
The impact locally is still unclear, but opponents view the move as a serious obstacle, creating uncertainty for future offshore wind projects.
Danish offshore wind developer Ørsted, which has a 10-year lease at the newly redeveloped State Pier in New London, announced Monday that its value had dipped $1.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024, citing rising costs for its U.S. projects and a delay in the development of Sunrise Wind.
The commissioning of Sunrise Wind, a 924-megawatt wind farm off the coast of Montauk, N.Y., and one of three offshore wind projects to be staged and shipped from State Pier, will be delayed until the second half of 2027, Ørsted said. A representative from Ørsted said the company is in the process of reviewing Trump's executive order "to assess the impact on our portfolio," but declined further comment.
Ørsted has used State Pier to stage offshore wind components for South Fork Wind and Revolution Wind. The latter is under construction off the coast of Rhode Island and will be the first and only wind farm to produce power for Connecticut.
Members of the Connecticut Port Authority Board of Directors, which owns State Pier and oversaw its $310 million reconstruction, met Tuesday for its regular monthly meeting. Trump’s position on offshore wind — and its possible effects locally — was only briefly alluded to during the meeting. Executive Director Michael O’Connor said he would continue exploring bringing new business to State Pier.
“If there’s a shift in what we do at State Pier, we’ll have to manage that,” he said.
Paul Whitescarver, the port authority's board chairman, said Gateway, the company hired to manage State Pier, has a vested interest in keeping the pier busy whether it is related to offshore wind or traditional cargo.
"As the President's Executive order was just issued last night, we want to review it and give it full consideration before making any statements. Regardless, State Pier in New London was rebuilt to accommodate a wider variety of general cargo in addition to offshore wind components," Whitescarver said in a statement.
American Clean Power Association CEO Jason Grumet, in a statement on Monday, said the trade association supports "Trump’s effort to reform the permitting process to speed the development of all forms of domestic energy production." But the organization, which advocates for renewable energy sources, "strongly opposes blanket measures to halt or impede development of domestic wind energy on federal lands and waters."
“Wind power is an essential element of our ability to serve soaring electricity demand for manufacturing and data centers that are key to national security. It is also playing a growing role in our energy systems in red and blue states across the country," Grumet said.
Kristin Urbach, executive director of the nonprofit Connecticut Wind Collaborative, said the group is reviewing Trump's executive order and "will refrain from making any speculative statements at this time."
Robin Shaffer, president of Protect Our Coast NJ, a group opposed to offshore wind projects, said in an interview Tuesday that his group is among a host of others "ecstatic that President Trump fulfilled his campaign promise regarding offshore wind."
"We believe this is the first step in moving away from this reckless, unreliable, unproven and unaffordable technology and moving us towards energy sources that are proven and sustainable and more environmentally friendly," Shaffer said.
Shaffer said he thinks Trump's executive order and others that could follow might serve to provide headwinds and uncertainty for future wind projects, some of which are in the permitting stages. Part of Trump's executive order pauses permitting for onshore and offshore wind farms while they are under review.
"Everything is in doubt right now," Shaffer said. With all of this doubt and uncertainty, does it make sense to pour millions, even billions of dollars, into these projects if ultimately there is going to be a stop work order?"
Ørsted CEO Mads Nipper said in a statement Monday that the setbacks to Ørsted are "very disappointing," but said the company remained committed to the U.S. market in the long term.
“We continue to navigate the complexities and uncertainties we face in a nascent offshore industry in the new U.S. market," Nipper said in the statement.
Joseph Villanova
EAST HARTFORD — State officials have allocated resources for the renovation of the Veterans Terrace housing development to the tune of an anticipated $25 million in financing and tax credits.
The state-sponsored 150-unit affordable housing project, located on Columbus Circle in East Hartford, has been under renovation for years by the East Hartford Housing Authority, which operates a handful of public housing projects in town.
The state Department of Housing and the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority announced Thursday direct financing and low-income housing tax credits to help get it across the finish line.
The town received a 50-year, $36 million loan in 2019 to demolish 42 old units and construct 45 new units at Veterans Terrace, and the complex was listed in the town's June 2023 affordable housing plan as in the midst of a $60 million redevelopment. The state Bond Commission granted $3 million to East Hartford in October 2023 for construction of a community facility at Veterans Terrace.
State officials said Veterans Terrace is on the "third and final phase" of its redevelopment, consisting of 51 units to be made affordable to households between 25% and 60% of the area median income.
The DOH announced it would provide $4.5 million in financing to the town's Housing Authority. CHFA said it will allocate tax credits that will generate $12.83 million in private investment along with $6.43 million in taxable bonds and $1 million from the authority's Opportunity Fund.
East Hartford officials said no municipal funding is included in the project.
The state assistance for Veterans Terrace is part of a package for eight municipalities and 658 housing units, 381 of which are deemed affordable for low- and moderate-income renters, totaling more than $21.8 million in loans and grants from the DOH and tax credits and financing from CHFA valued at $116.5 million.
Other developments receiving assistance from the DOH and CHFA include the Elle at North Main, a 49-unit mixed income rental community in West Hartford, and developments in Ansonia, Fairfield, New Britain, Rocky Hill, Stamford and Stratford.