FuelCell Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq: FCEL) -- a
global leader in fuel cell technology with a purpose of utilizing
its proprietary, state-of-the-art fuel cell platforms to enable a
world empowered by clean energy—announced today that the Company
closed on a tax equity financing transaction with East West Bank
for the 7.4 megawatts (“MW”) fuel cell project located on the U.S.
Navy Submarine Base in Groton, CT, also known as the Submarine
Force. East West Bank’s tax equity commitment totals $15 million.
We believe that this commitment further demonstrates the market’s
interest in financing FuelCell Energy’s distributed sustainable
energy platforms as the Company works with customers to achieve
their decarbonization and enhanced grid resiliency goals.
“We are thrilled to team up with East West Bank,
partnering on this important financing solution and supporting our
commercial platform deployment,” said Michael Bishop, Executive
Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of FuelCell Energy.
“This efficient financing enables FuelCell Energy to retain most of
this project’s long-term, recurring cash flow, and creates a
structure that will facilitate additional capital opportunities
that are expected to further return cash to the Company and enhance
overall return on equity for this project.”
The Company continues to advance the project
through mechanical completion and expects commercial operation to
commence prior to the end of September 2021. Following commercial
operation, the Company expects to add back-leverage debt financing
to complete the project’s capital structure.
“East West Bank is delighted to partner with
FuelCell Energy on the fuel cell project located on the U.S. Navy
Submarine Base in Connecticut,” said Christopher Simeone, Senior
Vice President with East West Bank. “As a leader in financing clean
and alternative energies, we look forward to seeing the U.S. Navy
and the Groton community benefit from this important project.”
“The U.S. Navy Submarine Base project is a
milestone project for FuelCell Energy, demonstrating our high
quality and reliable clean energy solution that enables electrical
resiliency with the country’s most critical infrastructure, while
supporting the Navy’s decarbonization goals” said Jason Few,
President and Chief Executive Officer, FuelCell Energy. “The United
States Defense Critical Electrical Infrastructure initiative is
important to national security, and we are honored to have an
opportunity to deploy our platform in a microgrid configuration
towards this mission,” Few added. “We are optimistic that the
current policy focus on infrastructure should present additional
opportunities to deploy our SureSource™ platform in support of the
Defense Critical Electrical Infrastructure initiative.”
FuelCell Energy installed 7.4 MW of SureSource™
power platforms at the U.S. Navy Submarine Base in Groton, CT to
provide a long-term supply of power to an existing electrical
substation. The fuel cell plant is part of a multifaceted plan by
the Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative (“CMEEC”) to
provide new power resources and support the desire of the
Department of Defense to add resiliency and grid independence to
key military installations. The highly efficient fuel cell power
generation project minimizes carbon output while providing
continuous power to the strategic military base. The U.S. Navy
continues to purchase power from CMEEC and Groton Utilities, who in
turn purchase the power from FuelCell Energy under a 20-year power
purchase agreement. This pay-as-you-go structure enables CMEEC and
the Navy to avoid a direct investment in owning the power plant
which will be operated and maintained by the Company.
About East West Bank
East West Bank provides financial services that
help clients reach further and connect to new opportunities. The
bank is wholly-owned by East West Bancorp, Inc., which has total
assets of $59.9 billion and is traded on the Nasdaq Global Select
Market under the symbol “EWBC.” East West Bank operates over 120
locations in the United States and China. In the United States,
East West Bank has branches in California, Georgia, Massachusetts,
Nevada, New York, Texas and Washington. In China, East West’s
presence includes full-service branches in Hong Kong, Shanghai,
Shantou and Shenzhen, and representative offices in Beijing,
Chongqing, Guangzhou, and Xiamen. For more information on East
West, visit www.eastwestbank.com.
About FuelCell Energy
FuelCell Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ: FCEL): FuelCell
Energy is a global leader in sustainable clean energy technologies
that address some of the world’s most critical challenges around
energy, safety and global urbanization. As a leading global
manufacturer of proprietary fuel cell technology platforms,
FuelCell Energy is uniquely positioned to serve customers worldwide
with sustainable products and solutions for businesses, utilities,
governments and municipalities. Our solutions are designed to
enable a world empowered by clean energy, enhancing the quality of
life for people around the globe. We target large-scale power users
with our megawatt-class installations globally, and currently offer
sub-megawatt solutions for smaller power consumers in Europe. To
provide a frame of reference, one megawatt is adequate to
continually power approximately 1,000 average sized U.S. homes. We
develop turn-key distributed power generation solutions and operate
and provide comprehensive service for the life of the power plant.
Our fuel cell solution is a clean, efficient alternative to
traditional combustion-based power generation, and is complementary
to an energy mix consisting of intermittent sources of energy, such
as solar and wind turbines. Our customer base includes utility
companies, municipalities, universities, hospitals, government
entities/military bases and a variety of industrial and commercial
enterprises. Our leading geographic markets are currently the
United States and South Korea, and we are pursuing opportunities in
other countries around the world. FuelCell Energy, based in
Connecticut, was founded in 1969.
SureSource, SureSource 1500, SureSource 3000,
SureSource 4000, SureSource Recovery, SureSource Capture,
SureSource Hydrogen, SureSource Storage, SureSource Service,
SureSource Treatment, SureSource Capital, FuelCell Energy, and
FuelCell Energy logo are all trademarks of FuelCell Energy,
Inc.
Cautionary Language
This news release contains forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding future
events or our future financial performance that involve certain
contingencies and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements
include, without limitation, statements with respect to the
Company’s anticipated financial results and statements regarding
the Company’s plans and expectations regarding the continuing
development, commercialization and financing of its fuel cell
technology and its business plans and strategies. These statements
are not guarantees of future performance, and all forward-looking
statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those projected. Factors
that could cause such a difference include, without limitation:
general risks associated with product development and
manufacturing; general economic conditions; changes in the utility
regulatory environment; changes in the utility industry and the
markets for distributed generation, distributed hydrogen, and fuel
cell power platforms configured for carbon capture or carbon
sequestration; potential volatility of energy prices; availability
of government subsidies and economic incentives for alternative
energy technologies; our ability to remain in compliance with U.S.
federal and state and foreign government laws and regulations and
the listing rules of The Nasdaq Stock Market; rapid technological
change; competition; the risk that our bid awards will not convert
to contracts or that our contracts will not convert to revenue;
market acceptance of our products; changes in accounting policies
or practices adopted voluntarily or as required by accounting
principles generally accepted in the United States; factors
affecting our liquidity position and financial condition;
government appropriations; the ability of the government and third
parties to terminate their development contracts at any time; the
ability of the government to exercise “march-in” rights with
respect to certain of our patents; the arbitration and other legal
proceedings with POSCO Energy Co., Ltd.; our ability to implement
our strategy; our ability to reduce our levelized cost of energy
and our cost reduction strategy generally; our ability to protect
our intellectual property; litigation and other proceedings; the
risk that commercialization of our products will not occur when
anticipated; our need for and the availability of additional
financing; our ability to generate positive cash flow from
operations; our ability to service our long-term debt; our ability
to increase the output and longevity of our power plants and to
meet the performance requirements of our contracts; our ability to
expand our customer base and maintain relationships with our
largest customers and strategic business allies; changes by the
U.S. Small Business Administration or other governmental
authorities to, or with respect to the implementation or
interpretation of, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic
Security Act, the Paycheck Protection Program or related
administrative matters; and concerns with, threats of, or the
consequences of, pandemics, contagious diseases or health
epidemics, including the novel coronavirus, and resulting supply
chain disruptions, shifts in clean energy demand, impacts to our
customers’ capital budgets and investment plans, impacts to our
project schedules, impacts to our ability to service existing
projects, and impacts on the demand for our products, as well as
other risks set forth in the Company’s filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements contained
herein speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company
expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release
publicly any updates or revisions to any such statement contained
or incorporated by reference herein to reflect any change in the
Company’s expectations or any change in events, conditions or
circumstances on which any such statement is based.
Contact:
FuelCell Energy,
Inc.ir@fce.com 203.205.2491Source: FuelCell
Energy
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