Enel, Ansaldo to build demonstration fuel cell plant

Rome-based Enel, Italy's biggest utility, and Ansaldo Fuel Cells, also based in Italy, announced plans to build a 0.5 megawatt fuel cell power plant.

The plant will be built at Enel's research center in Livorna, Italy, and use an integrated trigeneration system with Ansaldo's molten carbonate fuel cells generation technology.

Ansaldo is a unit of Finmeccanica, Italy's largest engineering and aerospace-defense group.

The companies said the facility would be up and running by mid-2009 and would generate electricity, as well as heating and cooling energy.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Ansaldo plans to install components and solutions at the plant, with Enel research staff handling operations of the system.

The companies said the agreement launches a "major partnership" between Ansaldo and Enel involving the development of molten carbonate fuel cells.

Enel said the agreement offers the opportunity to build and sell other similar plants, together with Ansaldo.

Enel said the project is part of its Environment and Innovation Plan, which targets a total investment of €4 billion by 2011.

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