Danbury-based FuelCell Energy announced it has increased the planned scale of its Torrington manufacturing expansion as it pursues growing demand from data center developers seeking on-site power generation. The company, which makes fuel cell power systems, said Monday it now aims to expand the facility to 500 megawatts of annualized production capacity, up from a previously announced target of 350 megawatts. The change comes as its pipeline of potential data center projects grew to 4 gigawatts during the second quarter, up from about 1.5 gigawatts earlier this year, the company said. The expanded project is expected to cost between $200 million and $275 million and take about 24 months to complete, according to an earnings release filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. FuelCell said it has already begun work at the Torrington plant, including installation of a high-volume tape caster and commissioning of a new conditioning room. The announcement accompanied second-quarter financial results that showed higher losses and lower revenue compared with a year ago. FuelCell reported revenue of $35.6 million, down about 5%, and a net loss of $77.6 million. The loss included a $42.6 million noncash impairment charge tied to planned equipment upgrades at the company’s 7.4-megawatt fuel cell installation at the U.S. Navy Submarine Base in Groton. FuelCell Energy began pivoting its business toward data centers earlier this year, with CEO Jason Few telling the Hartford Business Journal in March that more than 80% of the company’s proposal pipeline — then totaling roughly 1.5 gigawatts — came from data center customers. By the end of the second quarter, which closed April 30, the pipeline had grown to 4 gigawatts, a 267% increase from the first quarter. The Torrington facility was producing about 41 megawatts of power systems annually as of earlier this year, well below its existing 100-megawatt capacity. The original expansion plan, which FuelCell outlined in March, called for scaling within the existing footprint to 350 megawatts.
FuelCell plans up to $275M Torrington expansion as data center demand grows
