California State University Northridge Buys 1 Megawatt Ultra-Clean FuelCell Energy Power Plant to Help Meet Its Green Energy Mandate

FuelCell Energy, Inc. (NasdaqNM:FCEL), a leading manufacturer ofultra-clean and efficient electric power generation plants forcommercial and industrial customers, and its partner Alliance PowerInc., today announced the sale of a 1 megawatt (MW) fuel cell powerplant to California State University, Northridge (CSUN) for a combinedheat and power application to help the university meet its goals forgreater energy independence, capital growth, cost management andincreased use of green power.

The high efficiency Direct FuelCell(R) (DFC(R)) power plant willgenerate base load electricity for the university's facilities andsurplus heat for hot water. Uniquely, the university also plans onrouting exhaust from the heat exchanger into an adjacent greenhouseand arboretum to enhance photosynthesis, boosting plant growth andharvests by 10 to 40 percent. The carbon dioxide enrichment potentialprovided by the fuel cell plant may be used for specialized plantresearch, or as a convention of study within the regular biologyacademic program -- an opportunity rarely made available tobaccalaureate biology students.

The DFC power plant will be commissioned in the second half of2006 and operated by CSUN with technical support from FuelCell Energyand Alliance Power.

Students have provided significant support for clean energytechnology initiatives, and the California State University (CSU) hasestablished itself as the nation's leading academic institution takingaction to stop global warming. After two years of lobbying bystudents, the CSU Board of Trustees voted unanimously for one of themost comprehensive university policies on clean energy in the U.S.Part of the resolution called for all new buildings beginning in2006/2007 to meet the CSU Sustainability Measurement System certifiedlevel which shall be equivalent to Leadership in Energy andEnvironmental Design (LEED) certified, with regard to themicroclimates and physical diversity of the CSU campuses. Campuses areencouraged to strive for Silver level performance(http://www.usgbc.org/FileHandling/show_general_file.asp?DocumentID=913) (Due to its length, this URL mayneed to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field.Remove the extra space if one exists.) within budget constraints. Thepolicy also encouraged clean and ultra-clean cogenerating energytechnologies including fuel cells. CSUN began its drive to installonsite power generation from clean technologies in 2002 with theinstallation of 692 kilowatts of solar panels that provide a portionof the campus' peaking electricity requirements.

"DFC power plants will provide us with a base load option thatreduces the strain on the California grid, improves our energyindependence and power reliability, manages our energy and operationalcosts well into the future, and helps the environment," said TomBrown, Director of Physical Plant Management, CSUN. "In leading byexample, we are demonstrating how clean electricity can costeffectively power our campus."

CSUN's unit will be the single largest fuel cell power plant atany university in the world and is the seventh DFC plant of anycapacity installed at a university. Institutions of higher educationrepresent an excellent application of fuel cells' 24/7 electricalgeneration -- where they can power academic facilities during the dayand address critical base load needs at night.

Because the units are quiet and environmentally friendly, theyoften can be installed close to the classrooms and dorms where energyis needed. Other university sites with DFC power plant installationsinclude Yale University in Connecticut; Ocean County College in NewJersey; Grand Valley State University in Michigan; State University ofNew York at Syracuse; Chosun University Hospital in Korea; and PohangUniversity in Korea. The combined heat and power market potential forcollege and university applications in California exceeds 340 MWaccording to a 2000 study by Onsite Sycom Energy Corporation preparedfor the U.S. Department of Energy.

"Universities have used cogeneration to great effect in the past,and now we're seeing students press their institutions to create anduse even more clean energy," said R. Daniel Brdar, President and CEOof FuelCell Energy. "This is a market that's expanding, and itcomprises many megawatts for colleges and universities around thecountry. California's state university system alone is the largest inNorth America."

California continues to lead the way in supporting fuel celltechnology by providing financial and regulatory support. FuelCellEnergy's DFC products meet the California Air Resources Board (CARB)stringent emissions requirements for 2007. By meeting these standards,DFC power plants are categorized as ultra-clean distributed generationtechnology which helps streamline the permitting process, andqualifies FuelCell Energy's DFC products for preferential ratetreatment by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), suchas the elimination of exit fees and stand-by charges for customerelectric generation.

Southern California Gas, administrator for the CPUC's SelfGeneration Program for the Northridge area, issued a reservationletter that will provide incentive funding of up to $2.25 million ofeligible project costs and the Los Angeles Department of Water andPower has committed an additional $500,000 incentive to the CSUN DFCpower plant installation.

"We continue to see strong demand for ultra-clean onsite powergeneration in California, with many customers looking formegawatt-class DFC installations for firm, base load combined heat andpower applications," said James Michael, President of Alliance Power."The high efficiency and ultra-clean DFC power plants address twosignificant issues in the California market -- high energy costs andstrict air quality standards."

The high efficiency of DFC power plants not only results in lessfuel needed per unit of power output and lower operating costs, butreduced amounts of carbon dioxide. By generating power withoutcombustion, there are significantly less harmful pollutants, such asnitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides and particulates.

California State University, Northridge has 33,000 full- andpart-time students and offers 63 bachelors and 48 masters degrees aswell as 28 education credential programs. Founded in 1958, CSUN isamong the largest single-campus universities in the nation and theonly four-year public university in the San Fernando Valley. Theuniversity serves as the intellectual, economic and cultural heart ofthe Valley and beyond.

About FuelCell Energy

FuelCell Energy develops and markets ultra-clean power plants thatgenerate electricity with higher efficiency than distributedgeneration plants of similar size and with virtually no air pollution.Fuel cells produce base load electricity giving commercial andindustrial customers greater control over their power generationeconomics, reliability and emissions. Emerging state, federal andinternational regulations to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissionsconsider fuel cell power plants in the same environmentally friendlycategory as wind and solar energy sources -- with the added advantagesof running 24 hours a day and the capacity to be installed where windturbines or solar panels often cannot. Headquartered in Danbury,Conn., FuelCell Energy services over 40 power plant sites around theglobe that have generated more than 94 million kilowatt hours, andconducts R&D on next-generation fuel cell technologies to meet theworld's ever-increasing demand for ultra-clean distributed energy. Formore information on the company, its products and its worldwidecommercial distribution alliances, please see www.fuelcellenergy.com.

Direct FuelCell, DFC and DFC/Turbine are registered trademarks ofFuelCell Energy, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of theirrespective owners. The Company's sub-megawatt DFC fuel cell powerplant is a collaborative effort combining its Direct FuelCelltechnology with a Hot Module(R) balance of plant design from MTU CFCSolutions, GmbH.

This news release contains forward-looking statements, includingstatements regarding the Company's plans and expectations regardingthe development and commercialization of its fuel cell technology. Allforward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties thatcould cause actual results to differ materially from those projected.Factors that could cause such a difference include, withoutlimitation, the risk that commercial field trials of the Company'sproducts will not occur when anticipated, general risks associatedwith product development, manufacturing, changes in the utilityregulatory environment, potential volatility of energy prices, rapidtechnological change, and competition, as well as other risks setforth in the Company's filings with the Securities and ExchangeCommission. The forward-looking statements contained herein speak onlyas of the date of this press release. The Company expressly disclaimsany obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates orrevisions to any such statement to reflect any change in the Company'sexpectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances onwhich any such statement is based.