A fuel cell project has been set up to power an office building in what has been described as the largest project of its kind to be attempted in the US.

Verizon has taken the bold step to power its central office in New York with seven UTC Power PureCell 200 fuel cells in the pilot scheme.

Each cell can generate 200kW of power each hour. They run on natural gas.

"It took us several years to design and implement this project, and we did it to get more familiarity with fuel cells and to help move along the fuel cell industry," said Jeremy Metz, energy group manager for Verizon Strategic Sourcing, according to Fuel Cell Today.

"What we did here was to take seven fuel cells - nobody's ever done seven fuel cells before - pair it up with existing engines, design how to capture the waste heat, both for winter and for summer, and put it all in a system that requires impeccable reliability."

The fuel cells can also work as a hybrid system, using diesel and bio-fuel engines to generate power.

The US department of energy helped to fund the pilot project with grants of about $3.2 million. Another grant was contributed from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority totalling nearly a half million dollars.

Ÿ Adfero Ltd