Fuel Cell Demonstration at the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod

Authors

  • Mark Halverson
  • Bill Chvala Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
  • Shawn Monique Herrera U.S. Department of Energy

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13052/dgaej2156-3306.2033

Abstract

The U.S. Coast Guard installed one of the first fuel cells in the New
England region, with funding from the Green Power Initiative of the
Renewable Energy Trust (administered by the Massachusetts Technology
Collaborative), the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DOD’s) Climate
Change Fuel Cell Program, and KeySpan Energy. Beginning in 1998, the
Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) and the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers’ Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL)
provided technical assistance in the form of project economics, analysis,
and site selection.
The 250-kW fuel cell combined heat and power plant is located at
the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod in Bourne, Massachusetts.
The prime contractor, PPL Corporation, was responsible for all engineer-
ing and design work. FuelCell Energy of Danbury, Connecticut, was
responsible for the manufacture, delivery, and installation of the fuel cell.
Fuel cells produce electricity through an electrochemical reaction
rather than combustion. While currently more expensive to purchase
than conventional power-generating equipment, fuel cells provide effi-
cient, reliable power with minimal emissions. (For more information on
fuel cells, see FEMP’s Federal Technology Alert, “Natural Gas Fuel Cells”
at www.eere.energy.gov/femp/pdfs/FTA_natgas_fuelcell.pdf).

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Author Biographies

Mark Halverson

Mark Halverson is a senior research engineer in the Energy Science
and Technology Directorate at the Pacific Northwest National Labora-
tory. For the past 15 years, Mark has supported building energy code and energy efficiency programs. Recent activities include development of
consensus and Federal standards, energy code training, analysis of en-
ergy savings associated with codes and standards, facilitation of energy
saving performance contracts, and measurement and verification. He is
currently supporting DOE’s Building Energy Codes Program and Fed-
eral Energy Management Program. He works closely with ASHRAE’s
SSPC 90.1, is a member of ASHRAE’s Code Interaction Subcommittee,
and is a member of the FEMP M&V team. Mark has a Master of Science
Degree in chemical engineering from the University of Washington and
a Bachelor of Science Degree in chemical engineering from Montana
State University. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of
Washington and a Certified Energy Manager.

Bill Chvala, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Bill Chvala (pronounced Koala, like the bear) is a senior research
engineer in the Energy Science and Technology Directorate at the Pacific
Northwest National Laboratory. He first came to PNNL in 1991 to work
on energy performance evaluations of office equipment, building HVAC
equipment, and lighting. Since then, he has been involved in numerous
metering, data collection, demand-side management (DSM), and load-
shedding projects. Previously he worked briefly for a public electric util-
ity and rural electric cooperative. Bill’s specialties include field data col-
lection, utility data and rate analysis, and energy performance evalua-
tions for Federal facilities and large military installations. Bill manages
the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) Technical Assistance
activities at PNNL which provides of guidance, design review, technol-
ogy evaluation, energy project development, and other short-term assis-
tance to Federal agencies. Bill is also active in PNNL’s long-standing
program with the U.S. Army, helping them understand energy consump-
tion on an installation level and identifying potential energy projects,
fuel switching opportunities, load-shedding, and other operations im-
provements

Shawn Monique Herrera, U.S. Department of Energy

Shawn Monique Herrera is a project manager with the U.S. De-
partment of Energy, Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) in
Washington, D.C. Shawn works on the distributed energy resources and
technical assistance projects. Before joining FEMP in May 2000, Shawn
worked for the U.S. Department of Energy in Nevada. She managed
several energy management projects for several years. She holds a Bach-
elor of Science Degree in electrical engineering.

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Published

2005-08-14

How to Cite

Halverson, M. ., Chvala, B. ., & Herrera, S. M. . (2005). Fuel Cell Demonstration at the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod. Distributed Generation &Amp; Alternative Energy Journal, 20(3), 43–50. https://doi.org/10.13052/dgaej2156-3306.2033

Issue

2005: Vol 20 Iss 3

Section

Articles