Towering fuel cell

The redeveloped World Trade Center in New York is to become one of the largest fuel cell installations in the world.

The New York Power Authority (NYPA) has inked a $10.6m deal with UTC Power that will make the redeveloped World Trade Center the site of one of the largest fuel cell installations in the world.

The fuel cells will provide 4.8MW of power for the Freedom Tower and three other new towers under construction at the World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan, supplementing the renewable power and other clean energy the rebuilt towers will receive via power lines from off-site sources.

The thermal energy generated by the fuel cells - a natural byproduct of a fuel cell’s electro-chemical process - will be harnessed to provide cooling and heating in the towers.

The first of the so-called PureCell Model 400 fuel cells will be delivered to the Freedom Tower in January 2009.

The Freedom Tower is being developed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the other towers by Silverstein Properties.