After last year’s project of a 1.4 MW fuel cell power plant in Mannheim, energy supplier E.ON established a partnership with the Radisson Blu Hotel in Frankfurt, Germany, in mid-February 2017 to operate yet another industrial-grade fuel cell there. In addition to its distinct architectural features, the hotel is now to be equipped with a state-of-the-art energy system by FuelCell Energy Solutions. It is said to be installed during a fall 2017 project subsidized with EUR 800,000 to generate power and heat for the hotel’s 400 rooms – for at least 10 years.
It will be the same kind of molten carbonate fuel cell that had been manufactured by FuelCell Energy Solutions and installed by E.ON Connecting Energies at Friatec in Mannheim-Friedrichsfeld. The Mannheim MCFC unit went online in September 2016. Said a spokesperson: “E.ON believes in the potential of fuel cells – for industrial use, as was the case at Friatec, for hotel and commercial applications, as is the case at the Radisson Blu Frankfurt, and for business-to-customer projects.” The third item was a reference to the venture capital E.ON invested in Elcore.
Karsten Wildberger, board member of E.ON SE, said: “Innovative energy solutions such as the fuel cell can provide real benefits to hotels by severely reducing energy costs while drastically improving environmental quality – up to the point of being carbon-neutral.”