BRIDGEPORT — A previously rejected proposal to build a hydrogen fuel cell plant off Iranistan Avenue is back on the table and facing stiff neighborhood opposition.
Easton-based NuPower is asking the Connecticut Siting Council for permission to build a 70 foot high, 9.6-megawatt power plant and thermal heating loop at 600 Iranistan Ave. on a triangular half acre lot below Interstate-95.
The $80 million plant would extract hydrogen from natural gas — the gas is not burned — and convert it into electricity. A thermal loop of heated water would provide heating and cooling for buildings up to a mile away.
“We are proud of [the plant] and excited about it and hope we can help Connecticut,” said Dan Donovan, president of NuPower. The company operates a similar fuel cell plant at the nearby Cherry Street lofts.
That enthusiasm, however, is not shared by over 200 neighbors of the proposed plant who have signed petitions and written letters in opposition.
“This is a textbook case of environmental injustice,” Tanner Burgdorf, a resident of the nearby Seaside Village condo complex, said in a letter to the Siting Council.
“[The proposal] is shameful, shocking, and disrespectful to every member of the Bridgeport community that would suffer from such a short-sighted and inhumane decision,” Burgdorf said.
Opponents claim carbon dioxide and other emissions from the plant will lead to higher rates of asthma in the South End neighborhood, which is already within a “red” zone for asthma related hospitalizations.
“We are home to I-95, a gas plant, 2 other fuel cells, severe flooding, United Illuminating, a garbage dump, a nearby trash burning plant, a solar panel park and until last week a coal plant,” Kate Rivera, a South End resident, said in a letter to the siting council.
“This is environmental racism and classism,” Rivera said.
NuPower last year failed to gain Siting Council approval for a similar proposal and earlier this year submitted a revised plan that it believes satisfies previous objections.
One of the concerns expressed by the council was formation of a vapor plume around the plant due to condensation. Donovan said that plume, which would have occurred only once a year, was eliminated by a new design that passes exhaust water lines underneath a series of coolers.
Other Siting Council questions over emergency shut off procedures, the types of valves to be used and noise produced by the plant were also addressed, Donovan said.
Hydrogen chemistry
Fuel cell technology is a form of renewable energy that uses hydrogen to produce electricity and hot water to heat and cool nearby structures. The plant extracts hydrogen from natural gas and converts it into protons and electrons. Those electrons are then passed through a circuit that creates electricity.
Fuel cells are generally promoted as much cleaner than coal or oil-fired electric plants and even gas-fired plants such as Bridgeport’s Harbor Station that overlooks Long Island Sound.
Although the natural gas is not burned, some carbon dioxide — a major cause of global warming and climate change — is released by a fuel cell plant. NuPower projects the plant would emit 45,465 tons of carbon per year.
“This results in [a] fossil fuel power plant like Harbor Station releasing 789 tons more CO2 per [megawatt] annually than the apportioned electricity production from the fuel cell system,” according to NuPower.
Other notable emissions include .45 tons of methane a year and .2 tons of nitrous oxide — amounts far below levels that trigger the need for regulatory review and permits, NuPower said in filings with the Siting Council.
“The project will provide the state’s electrical system with additional generating capacity that will meet demand using renewable energy, upgrade grid infrastructure, contribute to grid stability and foster the redevelopment and reuse of an underutilized,” NuPower told the council.
During deliberations last year over the failed NuPower proposal, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection stopped short of opposing the project but pointed out that fuel cell plants work against the state’s goal of carbon free electricity.
“Such projects hinder our ability to achieve our climate goals, including a 100 percent zero carbon electric supply sector as charged by Governor [Ned] Lamont,” DEEP said.
Not in my backyard
Thomas Melone, president of Allco Renewable Energy, told the siting council the proposed NuPower plant will result in “serious adverse health effects” for the South End neighborhood.
“The area for the proposed project is an environmental justice community,” said Melone, whose company sells power from large solar arrays and says its “corporate mission is to combat climate change.”
“The project area has by far one of the highest incidents of emergency room hospital visit rates for asthma in Connecticut,” Melone said.
Melone added the NuPower plan would also displace “true renewable energy projects” in Connecticut and across New England.
“But for the (NuPower) project and ones like it, Connecticut would turn to solar electricity projects with storage, which create more of a positive economic impact, and none of the adverse consequences of the (NuPower) project,” Melone said.
In a letter to the Siting Council, Bridgeport City Council members Denese Taylor-Moye and Jorge Cruz, Democrats who represent the city’s South End, supported residents opposed to the plant.
“The plant will emit greenhouse gases in an area already subject to high levels of ground-level ozone,” the council members wrote.
“Further, the site is at the entrance way to Seaside Village, Seaside Park, the new Windward housing complex, as well as one entrance way to The University of Bridgeport,” they added. “The residents are worried about livability and health concerns which are overwhelming to the residents in the South End community.”
Joe Provey, a neighborhood activist who told the Siting Council he represents the Seaside Village Board of Directors, submitted nearly 200 petitions from residents opposed to the project.
The petitions note that the plant “would emit unacceptable levels of noise, CO2, methane, nitrous oxide and other pollutants, leading to higher rates of asthma in our community” and pour “hundreds of thousands of tons of greenhouse gases that cause global warning.”
State Rep. Joe Gresko, D-Stratford and Bridgeport’s Green Initiatives Coordinator, told the Siting Council the city fully supports the venture.
“The city is very comfortable in taking the position that this project is in the best interests of the city and will provide significant fiscal and conservation benefits,” Gresko said.
“We are keenly aware of the dangers associated with global warming and especially with rising sea levels,” Gresko noted. “This is truly a unique opportunity to bring all the environmental and financial benefits together under one project.”
Using heat
If approved by the Siting Council, the Bridgeport plant is expected to begin operations in the second half of 2022. No further regulatory approvals are needed; emissions are well below levels that require an air permit and there is no discharge from the plant.
The project is to be built by Doosan Fuel Cell America Inc., based in South Windsor.
United Illuminating has awarded a 20-year contract to NuPower for electricity as part of a larger authorization by the state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority for renewable energy.
NuPower estimates the plant will provide up to 20 construction jobs, generate over $5.5 billion in state tax revenue and $5 million in local taxes over 20 years.
The thermal loop is created by a closed water system that flows through the 21 fuel cells that make up the plant. That water can be piped to buildings for heating and cooling, providing a second revenue source for the plant.
“We have quite a bit of heat that we can use, and we have side contracts with an off taker and are in the process of signing up additional takers,” Donovan said, adding NuPower has two years after commercial operations commence to sign up users.
NuPower had planned to build a similar plant and thermal loop in Bridgeport’s downtown but that effort failed to gain traction.
“We wanted to take the heat from various power plants, waste to energy facilities and use it for downtown and various other areas,” Donovan said.
“Downtown is very viable,” Donovan said. “It’s just a question of how much heat we have. This is our first step. It’s sort of if you build it, they will come.”
bcummings@ctpost.com
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Decision looms for Bridgeport fuel cell plant project facing opposition in South End - CTPost
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