Fuel Cells Rise at Pepperidge Farm Bakery

FuelCell Energy and its distribution partner, PPL EnergyPlus announced that they are providing a 250 kW Direct FuelCell power plant for the Pepperidge Farm bakery facility in Bloomfield, Connecticut. Opened in 2003, the facility is the newest of Pepperidge Farm’s eight bakeries in the U.S. Pepperidge Farm is a unit of the Campbell Soup Company. This project was made possible through the support of the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (CCEF). The fuel cell power plant is expected to provide about 20 percent of the facility’s base load power, with the heat byproduct being used for process steam for the bakery. PPL will own the unit and sell the electricity and heat to Pepperidge Farm under a power purchase agreement. FuelCell Energy will provide maintenance under its long-term master service agreement with PPL for its fleet of DFC power plants in North America. Delivery is expected in the third calendar quarter of 2005. The Pepperidge Farm project was one of the finalists selected for funding in 2002 under the CCEF’s fuel cell program designed to stimulate the development and commercialization of fuel cell technology. The CCEF invests in technology to support the creation of clean energy supply from renewable sources and fuel cells. This project also received a grant from the U.S. Department of Defense Climate Change Fuel Cell Program.