Stop & Shop dedicates first fuel cell

QUINCY, Mass. -- The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company announced the special dedication of a 400 kilowatt fuel cell at its Torringford Street store in East Torrington, Conn.

According to the company, the fuel cell, a UTC Power PureCell System Model 400, was supported with a grant from the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund's On-Site Renewable Distributed Generation Program and is the first fuel cell utilized by the Stop & Shop Supermarket Company. It is expected to generate over 90% of the store's electric energy.

"In our commitment to be a sustainable company, we continually look for new innovations and technologies that help us build more energy efficient stores," said Jihad Rizkallah, VP store planning for Stop & Shop. "The fuel cell technology is the latest step we've taken to ensure we're doing everything we can to lower our impact to the environment in each community we serve."

Since the fuel cell was commissioned in June of last year, it has produced over 1.7 million kilowatt-hours of electricity, accounting for 95% of the store's total electric energy requirements. This, coupled with the use of the thermal energy produced by the fuel cell, has reduced the total electric and natural gas utility bills for the store by roughly 50%.

"Stop & Shop did an outstanding job integrating this fuel cell into its new, energy-efficient supermarket in Torrington and maximizing the energy attributes of the fuel cell," said Dale Hedman, acting president of the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund. "The store will not only benefit from electricity produced by the fuel cell but will also benefit from the fuel cell's waste heat, which will be used for heating, cooling and refrigeration."