Brian Lockhart of the CT Post features what could be the world’s largest fuel cell power plant manufactured by the Danbury-based Fuel Cell Energy. Check out company info here. Lockhart story:
What is being promoted as the biggest fuel cell power plant in the world–and an international showpiece for developer Fuel Cell Inc. of Danbury–sure won’t look like much.
“You know United Illuminating’s substation? A concrete pad with a bunch of metal stuff and wires? It’s going to look like that, surrounded by a fence, shrubbery and trees,” said David Kooris, Bridgeport’s new head of economic development.
Don’t be fooled.
Six years in the planning, the 15-megawatt project will keep Bridgeport at the forefront of a burgeoning green industry and, city officials say, provide substantial tax benefits to the city’s coffers.
Kooris and his conservation-minded boss, Mayor Bill Finch, inherited the plan from predecessor Mayor John Fabrizi’s administration. It will be built on two city-owned acres off Railroad Avenue on the edge of Finch’s highly touted eco industrial park.
“It’s something we’ve been keen on for a long time,” Finch said. “The fact we’ve been holding (that land vacant) for this project with nothing to show for it for all those years has been a little bit nerve-wracking … But it looks like it’s going to happen.”
Fuel cells produce electricity through a chemical reaction between oxygen and hydrogen. It is considered a clean form of energy because the byproduct is water vapor, not noxious chemicals.
“It’s a big deal because scientists are telling us the real, long-term solution to our energy crisis could be the hydrogen economy, and the hydrogen economy is going to have to work on forms of fuel cells,” Finch said. “It’s a link from current technology to future technology.”
In August 2006, near the latter part of Fabrizi’s administration, the Connecticut Siting Council approved the power plant under a different developer.
“Then FuelCell took it on and really did everything that was necessary to make it happen,” Kooris said. “It is a minimum $65 million investment.”
Under a unique deal with the city that is moving through the City Council this month, FuelCell will lease the property nearly free for 75 years, but pay $175,000 per acre up front–what Kooris called the market value sale price.
Kooris said the fact the property is contaminated from prior industrial use makes it difficult to sell outright because of restrictions.
“It’s not impossible to sell it,” Kooris said. “It would just be so incredibly complex and trigger all kinds of other things that would need to happen.”
Another facet of the arrangement involves tax payments. For the next 17 years, FuelCell will pay Bridgeport $250,000 annually.
“It’s a grey area. They’re leasing public property so they wouldn’t necessarily have to pay anything,” Kooris said. “But they recognize they’re building something worth $65 million … If they were a private developer, they’d have to pay a lot of taxes on it. So we have negotiated a middle ground.”
The City Council has scheduled a public hearing on the tax proposal for 7 p.m. Monday at City Hall on Lyon Terrace.
Kooris said in terms of tax-value per acre, the plant will be one of the most productive properties in Bridgeport.
“It will be more productive than almost any site except People’s Bank and 1000 Lafayette St., which is pretty phenomenal,” Kooris said. “That’s what we need to be in the game of–not just attracting big taxpayers, but productivity on the limited amount of land we have. This is a model for that.”
If the deal is finalized, Kooris said work will begin in the first few months of 2013. Ideally, the plant would start operating by spring, helping to bolster the local grid and also power future tenants of the eco-industrial park.
FuelCell Inc. declined to comment for this story, saying it would be premature.
The company has a fourth quarter fiscal conference scheduled for Dec. 21. Executives in September were upbeat about the future, touting international orders and projects like the one in Bridgeport, even as shares dropped below $1 after a disappointing third quarter.
But in November, the company announced its largest order ever–a $181 million, multi-year contract to provide fuel cells to POSCO Energy, the largest independent power producer in South Korea.
The identity of a key investor in the Bridgeport plant is being kept under wraps from the public until the City Council issues its final approvals.
“We have a nondisclosure agreement with them because when it is announced, it will have impacts in the marketplace. You can’t talk about it. It would be insider trading,” Kooris said.
The Railroad Avenue property is in Councilman Susan Brannelly’s, D-130, district.
“It’s so exciting. To imagine Bridgeport, Conn., would be the biggest fuel cell park in the world,” she said. “And I was quite impressed with the amount of tax we’d be collecting on it.
Don’t care if it’s a fertilizer plant, Bring ’em in!
Good news for Fabrizi’s brother. He won’t have to go too far to get cheap electricity to keep his ice cream operation going. Did the power outage cause the ice cream to melt? No problem, the boys at FEMA will take care of that too.
Let me see if I’ve got this right, this Fuel Cell Plant is going to be placed in the middle of where people live in the South End? Perhaps I missed reading about the “health and safety” of placing this plant in an area near a school, a ballpark and homes?
I believe this semi-green plant will be in the West End in an industrial park area. This project has been in the making for almost six years. Some positive energy but certainly some puffery about it being the biggest in the world.
Lennie, thanks for hosting such a great event–the OIB Christmas Party at the Bijou.
www. facebook.com/#!/photo.php?v=10200121923752460&set=vb.1281507948&type=2&theater
What’s this “highly touted Eco Industrial Park?” After five years, all this administration is doing is making more announcements.
Sure beats the hell out of burning coal!
Not really. They make electricity with hydrogen. The only exhaust is water vapor. But you get the H2 from Coal, gas or oil. All the exhausts from the H2-making process are the same as from the burning process. Gas is the cleanest and coal is the cheapest. There are two differences. New power plants have tight regulations around their emissions. Hydrogen making plants do not. You also do not get as much electricity from the power cell as you would from the power plant and since the fuel has to be made into H2 the electricity is expensive.
Always pleased to hear positive news on economic development for Bridgeport. However, let’s do our due diligence here. The news says: “FuelCell will lease the property nearly free for 75 years.” That seems like a long time, especially for a company (ticker FCEL) which once traded over 40 dollars and is now trading at 87 cents.
Bridgeport Now,
I hate to be cynical but I’ll bet you 82 cents the property is owned by DiNardo or Timpanelli’s grandson and this will prove to a massive tax writeoff, as most, if not all of these “green” startups are scams the Federal Govt. funds ’til they go “belly Up”–Remember SOLYNDRA, BEACON POWER, AROUND SOLAR, ENER1, EVERGREEN SOLAR, SPECTRA WATT and it goes on and on (I had stock in three of them). It’s okay though, it will take Bridgeport taxpayers 75 years to figure this scam out!!! What’s that you say? I am going to go and depreciate now, or maybe I’ll go fishing with my new “Steal Point”-bought hook ’em rod and reel.
An aside: Beacon Power symbol was BCON. Easy way to remember would be Bridgeport–CON(ned).
Let’s take a glance at FuelCell Energy’s last 10-Q quarterly report from this year: “We have not paid federal or state income taxes in several years due to our history of net operating losses, although we have paid foreign taxes in South Korea. For the three months ended July 31, 2012 our benefit for income taxes was immaterial.”
When Fabrizi first proposed or worked on this project the original site was on Housatonic Ave. Before I go any further let me state that I am not a fan of DiNardo or Timpanelli.
A lot of property is owned by DiNardo so it’s hard to not use his property. I don’t know if the property mentioned is owned by either person or persons. One can go to the town clerk’s office and get the information.
DiNardo owns the old Remington Arms site, the old Bridgeport Machine site, the present location of United Rentals and I am sure many other properties. I really don’t care if it brings in tax money and jobs.
I don’t know where the mayor’s Eco Industrial park is located.
The land is owned by the City at least since 2004. I have no idea how long the City owned the property or whom they bought it from. This is a fuel cell plant, think of it like a large battery and it is very quiet. It will not look as complicated as the picture Lennie found on their website. As for safety, there are all kinds of studies that surround this type of facility. The Connecticut Siting Council, the EPA, The Connecticut Clean Energy Fund and DEEP have all been reviewing these issues–for years! It is also not near the water so the 100-year flood/huge flood surges will not affect the location. This is also tax ratable, big time! Bravo Finch Administration.
Nancy, please refer to Bridgeport Now’s reference to the FCEL report on the fact they have not paid any taxes in 10 years in the U.S., hmmm. How long has it been since DiNardo paid his taxes? Bravo, a perfect fit!!!
Brings in jobs, people in those jobs pay taxes.
Must the peanut gallery play damned if you do and damned if you don’t?
One more thing, Nancy. Please notice the tide levels in the West End and in particular the high-water levels around Sikorsky, Marina Village and environs as a result of Sandy.
Under water, like the Solar Power Cos. I mentioned.
*** When in doubt, “RESEARCH” before being completely negative and against a subject, no? If this project is gone about the right way and by the right people from what I can remember while serving on the council during the Fabrizi Admin. “it would be a home run” for this city! In other words, we could be back on the “Family Guy Show” only this time as a positive example city! *** ZOMBIELAND GOES FUEL CELL ENERGY ***
I don’t know who all the players are since they have to remain confidential until the deal is done. I am confident David Kooris will make sure the due diligence is done internally. This is a battery on slab. If it had a basement then worry about the tides. I know about those tides in that area, they gave us a whole lot of trouble when we converted the former Park City Hospital into the Eleanor and Franklin apartments. That isn’t the case here. The slab will cap whatever brownfield contaminants remain in the soil over there. As for the taxes to be paid on the development, I assume there will be an escalator in the agreement as the power company gains tenants and distributes more and more power. Government revenue should grow with the business if the business needs a front-end accommodation.
Two City-owned acres (presently unusable because of ‘brownfield’ issues by anyone who does not want to become part of the ownership chain of liability the City has anyway) for which a payment of $350,000 will be made to the City free and clear?
OK. (Or do we have to perform anything else as Lessor?)
A 75-year lease of the property with payment info for the first 17 years (and presumably payments beyond that if the project works, i.e. generates clean and green energy that can be sold at competitive rates) and must have a different system for years 18-75?
Not many jobs I understand for this quiet, clean and relatively unobtrusive energy manufacturer but there will be construction jobs. How many? The Siting Council has presumably covered public-safety concerns and 100-year flood plain issues?
But if $65 Million or more is spent on plant/equipment and that is fair value, the 70% assessments if it were taxable property would yield $1,865,500 annually to the City, maybe? OK, this is a different deal, because nothing is there generating revenue, and the annual flow would seem to flow like a payment in lieu of taxes, but there is some space between $250,000 per year and nearly $1.9 Million, right?
Has anybody seen the financial worksheets on this deal? I am aware of confidentiality issues, but I am also aware the 25-year CRRA deal did no favors to the City, and since 2007 the City is likely doing no favors to City taxpayers with its relied-upon experts in the Tax Court case with Wheelabrator.
An expert bi-partisan City Finance Board could pursue such important issues in a responsible way, but we do not have such a body. Why not, Charter Review Commission? And might also look at regional sewer solutions and financing, maybe? And hold meetings that publicly deal with capital fiscal matters, bonding, and debt burdens. What a concept.
The fuel cell plant may be just the ticket, but complete financial info upfront is necessary. Generally as Bridgeport taxpayers we need to have checks (monitoring) and balance (oversight) activities that are structural and embody integrity on their own. Time will tell.
I hope this project goes through, god only knows we need taxpaying companies locating here in Bridgeport. I do believe $250K should be a higher payment to the city for taxes.
I just did a check of a small section of my neighborhood that covers 14 streets. The section I did was made up of all single-family homes. I found 17 vacant homes in this 14-street area. Now we can say oh well the banks will pay the taxes. Will they pay on time? What happens to the property owners who stay and watch their property values drop big time? I have to wonder what the total number of livable housing units that are now vacant is.
If revaluation happens on time this city is in trouble. Have any of the brain surgeons on the council given this any thought? Maybe they should check their districts for vacant housing.
Also, who knows where this first step will lead? Union Metallic Cartridge Company started out small in 1867, and Bridgeport eventually was known as the “arsenal of democracy.”
And just think, the Demo Culture tore down a beautiful Richardson Romanesque structure, the Bryant Building for this ugly high-profile abomination.
What is the fuel for this plant? Many fuel cells run off of natural gas and produce large quantities of carbon dioxide. Finch’s credentials as a “green” mayor are laughable. When most people who are lucky enough to even have a job have to commute to area towns creating greenhouse gasses because Finch has chased businesses out of town, it is ludicrous for him to claim to be an environmentalist.