Isra-Mart srl:Bloom Energy gets into PPA business

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Isra-Mart srl news:

Fuel cell company Bloom Energy has announced a power purchase agreement programme it hopes will expand its customer base by lowering the up-front costs of its products.

The initiative, Bloom Electrons, lets customers install a Bloom Energy Server fuel cell system for no initial investment, as long as they commit to a 10-year contract. The financing for the initiative has been secured as part of an agreement with Credit Suisse and Silicon Valley Bank, Bloom said.

Bloom's Energy Server is a 10-ton container-style box housing several arrays of small fuel cells powered by either natural gas or biogas.

While fuel cells have traditionally used precious metals as catalysts for their cathodes and anodes, the Bloom cells use special inks the company says reduce the cost of the cells significantly.

The company expects firms to save up to 20 per cent of the cost of grid electricity using the Energy Server, which provides 100kW of power and is remotely managed by Bloom Energy.

Bloom hopes the initiative will extend its reach to non-profits, educational institutions and utilities, by minimising the capital expenditure necessary to get the fuel cell technology in place. The California Institute of Technology has already installed 2MW of capacity under the PPA arrangement.

Other customers that have bought Energy Server products using conventional up-front investment include eBay, Walmart, Staples, Google and Adobe.