Fuel Cell Park at the Yaphank Landfill Begins Operations

YAPHANK, NY – The Yaphank Fuel Cell Park at the Town of Brookhaven landfill is open, generating 7.4 megawatts of energy from three SureSource 3000 carbonate fuel cell power plants, Supervisor Ed Romaine announced.

According to Brookhaven Township, the fuel cell facility will provide continuous reliable electricity to the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) system in Yaphank and will provide sufficient power for 7,500 homes.

“The Yaphank Fuel Cell Park is the Town’s first step in our transition from landfill to an energy park,” Romaine said in a statement. “The fuel cells, along with solar fields and harvested methane gas, will repurpose the landfill when it stops accepting waste after 2024 and is capped and closed. Our forward-looking plan will establish Brookhaven Town as a municipal leader in alternative energy sources.”

In its simplest form, a hydrogen fuel cell creates electricity by combining hydrogen gas and oxygen to form water, and the electricity is used to power the grid, according to the township. Fuel Cells are an electrochemical power generation technology that convert the energy directly to electricity without combustion and without combustion-related pollutants such as NOx, SOx and particulates, according to the town.

The project will be interconnected to LIPA’s existing transmission system via a new dedicated distribution feeder from the site. The electrical connection is being provided by PSEG- LI and natural gas is being served by National Grid.

The Yaphank Fuel Cell Park power generation facility is located on about 0.93 acres in the southern portion of the landfill. FuelCell Energy, Inc. developed, installed and will operate the facility, the township said.