PEORIA, Ill., Nov. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT), FuelCell Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq: FCEL) and the city of Westerville, Ohio have reached an important milestone, bringing on-line one of the first utility-scale fuel cell power plants in North America that will feed power to consumers from a substation.

"As the world leader in distributed power generation, we see a growing need for all of Caterpillar's broad range of power generation products," said Rick Rathe, marketing manager for Caterpillar's Power Systems Marketing Division. "This project represents an important step in the use of stationary fuel cells to provide power to local electrical distribution systems."

"This project demonstrates how public-private partnerships can work to bring new and emerging technologies to consumers today," said Herbert T. Nock, FuelCell Energy's senior vice president of marketing and sales." "The state of Ohio and the city of Westerville are showing how Direct FuelCell® (DFC®) power plants which create hydrogen internally, can be used to bring clean, reliable power to the people of Ohio without waiting for the development of a hydrogen supply infrastructure."

This innovative project is a first for the state of Ohio and it was funded in part through Governor Bob Taft's Third Frontier Fuel Cell Initiative, a $103 million dollar program that aims to position Ohio as a national leader in the growing fuel cell industry.

"Ohio has been on the leading edge of fuel cell technology for several years, and with today's installation in Westerville, the Buckeye State has jumped ahead and established its leadership as an industry pioneer," said Bob Taft, governor of Ohio. "Today signifies that our Third Frontier investments in the fuel cell industry are succeeding and directly benefiting Ohio citizens. I am pleased to take part in this historic event.

"The 250-kilowatt (kW) DFC power plant creates the hydrogen it needs from a readily available fuel, natural gas. The unit is manufactured by FuelCell Energy and distributed by Caterpillar through its dealer Ohio Cat. The fuel cell power plant is located at Westerville's electric substation #2, and when fully operational it will produce enough energy to power approximately 180 homes in Westerville.

"Westerville's fuel cell produces predominantly water and heat as by- products, while dramatically minimizing regulated emissions," said Andrew Boatright, Westerville's electric utility manager. "This first of its kind project in Ohio demonstrates that fuel cell technology holds the potential to transform the entire energy industry."

Westerville is one of 91 municipal electric communities in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Michigan that comprise AMP-Ohio, a wholesale power supplier and services supplier for municipalities. AMP-Ohio helped the city of Westerville secure the state grant that made the project possible, while also providing technical support for the installation. "We are excited to be a partner in this project, which shows Westerville's leadership in current technology, and in the larger picture will put our country one step closer to becoming less reliant on foreign countries for our energy consumption," said Marc S. Gerken, PE. AMP-Ohio president.

Fuel cells are similar to large, continuously running batteries, using natural gas or other fuel to generate electricity through electrochemical reactions. Direct FuelCells efficiently generate electricity at distributed customer locations, including hospitals, schools, universities, hotels and other commercial and industrial facilities, as well as grid-support applications for utility customers. Direct FuelCells convert readily available fuels, such as natural gas or waste gas, to electrical power with great efficiency.

In April 2002, Caterpillar and FuelCell Energy signed an alliance agreement to distribute and develop ultra-low emission fuel cell power generation products for industrial and commercial use. The agreement calls for the companies to jointly develop Caterpillar-branded power plants in the 250kW to 3MW size range, incorporating FuelCell Energy's fuel cell module.

About Caterpillar

For more than 75 years, Caterpillar Inc. has been building the world's infrastructure and, in partnership with its worldwide dealer network, is driving positive and sustainable change on every continent. With 2003 sales and revenues of $22.76 billion, Caterpillar is a technologyleader and the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines and industrial gas turbines. More information is available at http://www.cat.com.

About FuelCell Energy

FuelCell Energy, Inc., based in Danbury, Connecticut, is a world leader in the development and manufacture of high temperature fuel cells for electric power generation. FuelCell Energy developed its patented Direct FuelCell technology for stationary power plants with the U.S. Department of Energy through its Office of Fossil Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory. The sub-megawatt fuel cell power plant is a collaborative effort using Direct FuelCell® technology of FuelCell Energy and the HotModule® balance of plant design of MTU CFC Solutions, GmbH, a subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler. FuelCell Energy is also developing next generation high temperature fuel cell products, such as a diesel fueled marine Ship Service Fuel Cell, a combined- cycle DFC/Turbine® power plant and solid oxide fuel cells for applications up to 100 kilowatts. More information is available at http://www.fuelcellenergy.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the company's plans and expectations regarding the development and commercialization of its fuel cell technology. 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, the risk that commercial field trials of the company's products will not occur when anticipated, general risks associated with product development, manufacturing, changes in the utility regulatory environment, potential volatility of energy prices, rapid technological change, and competition, 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 to reflect any change in the company's expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.