Verizon sees impressive savings from energy pilot
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TalkBackGARDEN CITY, N.Y.--Verizon Communications expects to save about $250,000 a year on commercial power costs as a result of a fuel cell pilot project aimed at finding alternative energy sources, the company said on Wednesday.
The project comes as soaring oil prices push up energy costs.
Verizon said the pilot at its office building and network switch center in the New York City suburb of Garden City is the largest trial of fuel cell technology in the United States.
Fuel cell technology, developed by NASA for space flight and long eyed for commercial uses, generates electric power by using hydrogen and oxygen atoms.
"This is a huge step in moving this technology from the labs to the real world," said Verizon Chief Executive Ivan Seidenberg. He said the additional power source could help Verizon keep its network more reliable in an emergency.
Telecommunications networks had to run on backup power generators during the August 2003 power blackout in the United States and after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Verizon, which has been working on fuel cell research for six years, said it received major funding for the $13 million project from the U.S. Department of Energy and expects additional funding from New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.
Verizon hopes to expand its use of fuel cells in the next year or two.
The phone company said that the Garden City facility, which handles calls for about 35,0000 phone lines and has 900 employees, uses fuel cells for much of its power but is still connected to the commercial power grid and other backup sources.
It has installed seven fuel cells, each capable of generating 200 kilowatts of power an hour, or almost enough energy for 400 single family households, the company said.
Verizon said that production of this much power in a fossil-fuel based plant would have caused emissions of 11.1 million pounds of carbon-dioxide in one year.
UTC Power of South Windsor, Conn., built the fuel cells.
Story Copyright © 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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