FuelCell Energy this week entered into an agreement to acquire Dominion Energy’s 14.9 MW fuel cell park in Bridgeport, Connecticut for $36.6 million.
Groundbreaking in September for fuel cell project at the submarine base in Groton, Conn. Photo provided by CMEEC
The Connecticut-based fuel cell manufacturer built the fuel cell park for Dominion Energy and already operates and maintains the plant under a service agreement. The transaction is the result of a competitive bid process undertaken by Dominion.
Chip Bottone, president and CEO of FuelCell Energy, said that the purchase is strategically important for the company.
“Having been the operator of the Bridgeport fuel cell park for the past five years, we are uniquely positioned to acquire and benefit from this established project. This important acquisition will materially accelerate our strategy to retain generation assets and to benefit from their financial profile of consistent revenues, operating profits and cash generation,” he said.
Buttone also noted that the Connecticut Green Bank supported construction of the project and is playing a key role in financing the acquisition.
FuelCell Energy expects to fund the acquisition with a combination of third party financing and $15 million of restricted cash on hand that is tied to the project and would be released at closing.
For Virginia-based Dominion Energy, a company with $78 billion in assets and 6 million customers, the sale is part of a larger strategy to sell off non-core assets and boost its credit profile.
The Bridgeport project is one of several installations by Fuelcell Energy in Connecticut, some of them microgrids, including the U.S. Naval Submarine Base in Groton, which recently received a $5 million grant through the Connecticut Microgrid Program, and the Woodbridge’s Amity Regional High School, which won a $3 million grant through the program.
The Dominion Energy transaction is expected to close on or before December 31, 2018.
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