by Shane Henson — June 17, 2013—Bloom Energy, a provider of on-site power generation systems that utilize an innovative new fuel cell technology, has been contracted to install fuel cell systems at three Verizon locations: two call-switching centers in Los Angeles and San Francisco and a data center in San Jose.
The installation is part of Verizon’s plan, announced April 30, to invest $100 million in a solar and fuel-cell energy project that will help power 19 of the company’s facilities in California and six other states across the country: Arizona, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and North Carolina. When completed next year, the project will enable Verizon to generate more than 90 million kilowatt hours of its own green energy annually, it says.
Verizon is now well on its way toward reaching its goal with the fuel cells scheduled to be used at the three California locations. According to Bloom Energy, the solid oxide fuel cells it is using for the project are expected to generate more than 16 million kilowatt hours of clean electricity for Verizon in the Golden State each year.
“Bloom is aligned with Verizon in the belief that the world’s biggest challenges deserve bigger solutions,” said Matt Ross, chief marketing officer for Bloom Energy. “At Bloom we are excited to be helping Verizon meet the 21st century challenge of deploying a clean, reliable, efficient energy platform for their operations.”
Verizon has a history of adopting new technologies to revolutionize the information and communication infrastructure, it says. The company expects that its distributed-generation strategy—generating power on site at the point of consumption using advanced renewable and clean energy technologies—will accelerate the company’s progress toward its goal of cutting its worldwide carbon intensity by 50 percent by 2020.
For more information on Verizon’s sustainability initiatives, see the company’s Corporate Responsibility Web site.
