HydroGen Corp. to Install, Operate Fuel Cell Demo Plant at ASHTA Site in Ohio

Energy Resource, Oct 17, 2006

ENERGY RESOURCE-17 October 2006-HydroGen Corp. to Install, Operate Fuel Cell Demo Plant at ASHTA Site in Ohio(C)2006 JeraOne - http://www.jeraone.com

HydroGen Corporation, a designer and manufacturer of multi-megawatt air-cooled phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC) systems, has signed a definitive agreement with ASHTA Chemicals Inc. to install and operate a 400 kW fuel cell demonstration power plant.

The plant will be installed at ASHTA's chlor-alkali manufacturing plant in Ashtabula, Ohio.

Under the terms of the agreement, HydroGen will install the fuel cell module in early 2007, followed by a year of onsite operation. To support the project, HydroGen will utilize a $1,250,000 award that the Ohio Department of Development previously provided to the company as a development grant for a three-phase program to deploy, demonstrate and commercialize the PAFC module.

The goal of the project is to demonstrate the performance of HydroGen's core 400 kW PAFC module for potential customers of HydroGen's multi-megawatt fuel cell power plants. ASHTA Chemicals produces elemental hydrogen gas from its production of chlorine and related chemicals at its plant, which will be used as a fuel source to generate power from the PAFC demonstration facility.

"This agreement with ASHTA Chemicals is a major milestone for this company in the commercialization of our multi-megawatt stationary fuel cell," said Dr. Leo Blomen, HydroGen Corporation chairman and CEO. "Our demonstration facility should allow us to confirm the large-scale potential of our technology, and the partnership with ASHTA will help them generate low-cost, zero-emission electric power in Northeast Ohio."

Joshua Tosteson, president of HydroGen, added that the company targets market applications where hydrogen is currently available.

"ASHTA's chlor-alkali plant is an ideal location to showcase and test our technology," said Tosteson. "We expect that a successful demonstration of our PAFC system will lead to heightened awareness of the value of our power plants within our target market segments. We appreciate ASHTA Chemicals' participation with us in this project and look forward to a mutually beneficial outcome to the demonstration."

"The significant strides ASHTA Chemicals has made to reduce emissions in the hydrogen vent gas from the process has allowed us to take advantage of HydroGen's proposal," notedRichard Jackson, vice president - Operations for ASHTA Chemicals Inc.

"We see this as a perfect opportunity to utilize our by-product hydrogen stream and achieve multiple benefits," said Jackson, "including reducing ASHTA's power cost, reducing operating costs associated with steam production and reducing greenhouse gases."

((Comments on this story may be sent to newsdesk@scitech21.com))

((Distributed via M2 Communications Ltd - http://www.m2.com))