Uri Kaufman, a principal in Evergreen Power LLC, said he's determined to use a clean, renewable resource to restart the plant, which he is leasing with an option to purchase. The facility is owned by Quinnipiac Energy of Guilford, which acquired the plant in 2000 from the United Illuminating Co.
The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection rejected a bid to restart the plant in 2003, saying air quality in New Haven already violated overall pollution standards and many lower-income Fair Haven residents didn't have air conditioning and couldn't escape the effects of any added ozone and soot pollution.
Kaufman, whose main business is developing residential and commercial projects, said his effort to restart the plant is not affiliated with Quinnipiac Energy.
"Their plan was misguided and we are not going to implement it," Kaufman said. "We are not going to use diesel fuel. This is good clean technology that holds the potential to free us from petroleum dependency." Kaufman's plan uses fuel cells, which convert hydrogen and oxygen into water and produce electricity in the process. Fuel cells produce no greenhouse gases that pollute the environment.
His plan hinges on being selected as part of Project 100, a Connecticut Clean Energy Fund program designed to promote 100 megawatts of renewable energy projects in the state using a variety of incentives. Kaufman said his plans to restart English Station will be part of a submission to Connecticut Innovations, the Rocky Hill-based quasi-public agency that is overseeing Project 100. The deadline for submissions is July 17, said Charlie Moret, managing director for marketing and communications for Connecticut Innovations.
Moret said all submissions for Project 100 are reviewed by officials at Connecticut Innovations, representatives of Connecticut Light & Power and United Illuminating Co., and the Department of Public Utility Control. There are two key advantages to being selected to participate in Project 100, Moret said.
"One is that (renewable energy producers) get a long-term purchase agreement from CL&P or UI," he said. "That is what gets this kind of project moving. The other is that they are allowed a premium of up to 5.5 cents per kilowatt hour over the wholesale electric market price." Restarting English Station would also require approval from the Connecticut Siting Council and the state Department of Environmental Protection. Derek Phelps, executive director of the Connecticut Siting Council, said he could not comment on Kaufman's proposal. But he said state lawmakers have always encouraged the Siting Council to work with power producers planning to build renewable energy projects.
"It is clearly the intent of the legislature that we provide a high level of cooperation and willingness to work with renewable energy producers whenever possible," Phelps said.
Kaufman said he hopes to restart English Station in late 2007. His plan also has a second, more traditional phase, calling for the use of natural gas-powered turbines. But Kaufman said he is still formulating the details of that part of the proposal and could not be more specific about how much energy the natural gas-fired turbines would produce or how long they would operate each year.
"This is the future and has the potential to be beneficial for everybody involved," Kaufman said. "It would be a boon for Connecticut industry because there are a lot of companies in the state involved in fuel cell technology and it has the potential to be beneficial for the public because it would result in older power plants that produce pollution being taken off line."
City Plan Director Karyn Gilvarg said New Haven officials haven't received any official notification of the plan. But based on Kaufman's description, Gilvarg said city officials are likely to view the proposal more favorably than when Quinnipiac Energy attempted to restart the plant. "It certainly seems interesting and is more of what we had in mind," Gilvarg said. "Under no circumstance could we accept any plan that uses the existing generation equipment. That's why we opposed the previous attempt, because of air quality concerns."
Evergreen Power would also need some approvals from the city, including a traffic plan indicating how restarting the plant would impact surrounding streets and roads, Gilvarg said.
To see more of New Haven Register, or to
subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.nhregister.com.