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FuelCell Energy's High-Efficiency Power Plant Sold to Japanese Ceramics Manufacturer to Reduce Carbon Dioxide Emissions and Lower Energy Costs

Posted on: Monday, 19 December 2005, 09:00 CST

Marubeni's Sale of Ultra-Clean DFC300A Power Plant to Be Integrated with Ceramics Kiln to Significantly Reduce Carbon Dioxide Emissions and Provide Energy Cost Savings

FuelCell Energy, Inc. (NasdaqNM:FCEL), a leading manufacturer of ultra-clean and efficient electric power generation plants for commercial and industrial customers, today announced the sale of a 250-kilowatt (kW) Direct FuelCell(R) (DFC(R)) power plant by its Asian distributor, Marubeni Corporation, to NGK Insulators, Ltd., a ceramics manufacturing company in Nagoya, Japan.

Best known in the U.S. as a producer of electrical insulators, NGK also holds substantial market share in automotive and industrial ceramics (such as spark plugs), ceramics components for electric and electronic equipment, power transmission and distribution products, and plant engineering services.

The DFC power plant is part of NGK's goal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions at its three ceramics manufacturing facilities by 24 percent over the next five years. Medium-term targets are 0 percent increase from 2003 to 2006 and long-term targets are 7 percent less than 1990 by 2010. Total carbon dioxide emissions in 2003 were 166,000 tons, 17 percent higher than 1990. NGK expects that use of FuelCell Energy's high efficiency DFC power plant in a combined heat and power application at its Nagoya ceramics kiln will significantly contribute to exceeding their corporate carbon dioxide emissions reduction goal.

"Integrating a highly efficient DFC power plant into our ceramics kiln operations is expected to help us to meet our carbon dioxide emissions reduction objectives while saving energy costs," said Yoshihiko Kurashima, Director of Corporate Manufacturing Engineering. "In addition, we see opportunities to improve the overall thermal efficiency of our ceramics manufacturing processes by integrating DFC power plants, the most efficient source of firm, 24/7 onsite power in its size range, into our kiln operations."

Japan has emerged as one of the most efficient users of energy -- in turn, making the country less subject to economic shocks from energy price fluctuations. The U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration ranks Japan as the world's fourth largest energy consumer overall and its second largest energy importer. At the same time, Japan leads many countries managing the amount of energy consumed to bring products to market. The Wall Street Journal (in its Oct. 7, 2005, editions) cited 2003 figures that production of a ton of steel required only 100 units of energy by leading Japanese firms -- in contrast to the 120 units used by U.S. steel companies and 150 units averaged by Chinese steel-makers.

"The high efficiency of our DFC power plants serves as a major driver for us in Japan," said R. Daniel Brdar, president and COO of FuelCell Energy. "High efficiency translates into more energy output using less fuel, thereby providing customers with energy cost savings while meeting their air quality improvement mandates."

The power plant will run on natural gas supplied by Toho Gas Co., Ltd, and will operate in parallel to the grid. It is scheduled to be up and running in early calendar year 2006. Financial details of the sale were not disclosed.

About FuelCell Energy

FuelCell Energy develops and markets ultra-clean power plants that generate electricity with up to twice the efficiency of conventional fossil fuel plants and with virtually no air pollution. Fuel cells produce base load electricity giving commercial and industrial customers greater control over their power generation economics, reliability and emissions. Emerging state, federal and international regulations to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions consider fuel cell power plants in the same environmentally friendly category as wind and solar energy sources -- with the added advantages of running 24 hours a day and the capacity to be installed where wind turbines or solar panels often cannot. Headquartered in Danbury, Conn., FuelCell Energy services over 40 power plant sites around the globe that have generated more than 80 million kilowatt hours, and conducts R&D on next-generation fuel cell technologies to meet the world's ever-increasing demand for ultra-clean distributed energy. For more information on the company, its products and its worldwide commercial distribution alliances, please see www.fuelcellenergy.com.

Direct FuelCell, DFC and DFC/Turbine are registered trademarks of FuelCell Energy, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. The Company's sub-megawatt DFC fuel cell power plant is a collaborative effort combining its Direct FuelCell technology with a Hot Module(R) balance of plant design from MTU CFC Solutions, GmbH, a subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler.

This news release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the Company's plans and expectations regarding the development and commercialization of its fuel cell technology. All forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Factors that could cause such a difference include, without limitation, the risk that commercial field trials of the Company's products will not occur when anticipated, general risks associated with product development, manufacturing, changes in the utility regulatory environment, potential volatility of energy prices, rapid technological change, and competition, as well as other risks set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements contained herein speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any such statement to reflect any change in the Company's expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

Source: Business Wire

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