Corning and ENrG Awarded $8 million for Solid Fuel Cell Development

10/08/2004

Fuel Cell Technology Part of Cooperative Agreement Funded by NIST

Corning Inc. and ENrG Inc. have received a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Advanced Technology Program (ATP) award to develop solid oxide fuel cell technology. The $8 million award is part of a three-year, $16 million cooperative agreement funded by NIST, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), Corning and ENrG. The money will be used by the two companies to develop solid oxide fuel cell technology for stationary powerplant applications.

According to Corning, because its solid oxide fuel cell technology is based on innovations in thin solid electrolyte technology it is ideally suited to power generation in the 200+ kWt range used in stationary primary power and cogeneration applications.

"Soaring energy prices, air pollution concerns and advances in materials technology have spurred renewed interest in solid oxide fuel cells," said Paul Marx, director of Corning's Fuel Cell Business Development program. "The benefits of this technology have not been realized yet, primarily due to lack of robust scalability to high power levels. We believe solid oxide fuel cell technology can drive a new industry in electricity-generating appliances, which combine the efficiency of large-scale generating plants with the smaller-scale size requirements needed for on-site generation applications."

"ENrG is enthusiastic about … our codevelopment effort with Corning which was initially funded by NYSERDA," said John Olenick, president of ENrG Inc. "This NIST ATP award begins a new, challenging development phase … towards meeting the economic requirements to commercialize solid oxide fuel cells for the energy markets."