EMBARGOED UNTIL 3PM FRIDAY DEC 9th - CDA FINANCES FUEL CELL AT CARLA'S PASTA
Marie O'Brien
****EMBARGOED UNTIL 3 P.M. ON FRIDAY DEC. 9, 2011****
NEWS MEDIA RELEASE -- CONNECTICUT DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
December 9, 2011
Contact: Marie O’Brien, President
South Windsor Business Flourishing With Help
From Connecticut Development Authority
Carla’s Pasta Receives Bridge Loan To Install Fuel Cell
South Windsor, CT – Reflecting on the years she has operated Carla's Pasta Inc., a manufacturing business, Carla Squatrito said the purchase and installation of a hydrogen fuel cell was one of the biggest achievements of her company.
"Many businesses can't afford a fuel cell, but we were able to get it with the help of the Connecticut Development Authority," Squatrito said.
Squatrito started Carla’s Pasta in 1978, 10 years after immigrating to the United States. Today her pasta is found not only in homes across the country, but in restaurants as well. On Friday, Carla and her employees unveiled the new hydrogen fuel cell during a ceremony at the plant at 50 Talbot Lane.
With a bridge loan approved for up to $2,175,000 by the Connecticut Development Authority and a $750,000 grant from the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund, Carla’s Pasta purchased a 300-kilowatt DFC300 fuel cell power plant made by FuelCell Energy Inc. of Danbury.
LOGANEnergy, a dedicated fuel cell energy services company, installed the fuel cell power plant at the pasta-manufacturing facility in South Windsor.
“We are extremely excited. We would not have been able to buy this without the help of the CDA and Tony Roberto, CDA’s executive director. Many businesses cannot afford fuel cells. We are very grateful,” Squatrito said.
“This project will enable a successful Connecticut company to grow more profitably and ensure long-term success,” Roberto said. “Everyone at the Connecticut Development Authority strives to help Connecticut businesses expand and create jobs,” Roberto said.
When Carla's Pasta opened in 1978 in a 1,200-square-foot building on East Middle Turnpike in Manchester, it sold mostly fresh pasta and meat- and cheese-filled ravioli. The business expanded several times before moving to South Windsor in 2002 and expanding again.
“You know, the CDA helped us also in 2002 when we moved to South Windsor,” Squatrito said. “They’ve helped us a lot over the years. We’re very lucky to have them. I don’t know if we could have done it without them.”
Squatrito said the pasta-making process requires a tremendous amount of energy. “It makes good business sense to have the most fuel-efficient process and we like the fact that fuel cell energy is also reliable and a very clean energy source,” she said.
Carla’s Pasta Inc. has been providing quality frozen pasta and pesto products for 29 years to commercial institutions. As the owner of a frozen food processing facility that is dependent on 24-hour, 7-day reliable power, Carla understood the value of the distributed generation aspect of fuel cells. Electrical power is generated at the point of use, which provides increased reliability, power quality and energy security.
“We operate our frozen pasta and pesto plant 24 hours per day and were attracted by the fuel cell power plant’s reliability and energy security as it generates power right on our property,” said Sergio Squatrito, vice president of operations, Carla’s Pasta.
“The high efficiency of the fuel cell power plant decreases our fuel and electrical costs, and it lowers our carbon footprint. Our environmental stewardship is further enhanced with the installation of these fuel cells, as the energy-generation process emits virtually zero harmful pollutants,” he said.
The fuel cell power plant is expected to provide 60 percent of the energy needs of the recently expanded Carla’s Pasta facility. The fuel cell power plant will generate ultra-clean base load electricity and will be configured to recover the by-product heat from the fuel cell energy conversion process. The by-product heat will be used for facility heating and heating hot water for the production process and general facility needs. This combined heat and power (CHP) configuration can achieve up to 80 percent efficiency, which is more than twice as efficient as power delivered via the transmission grid.
Sam Logan Jr., chief executive officer of LOGANEnergy, stated, “We are providing a fully functional turn-key fuel cell power plant for our customer, Carla’s Pasta Inc. Partnering with FuelCell Energy allows us to offer our customers economical power generation that is highly efficient, environmentally friendly and reliable.”
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