New Energy Technologies

Project Profile:  NYPD, NYPA Team for
Central Park Energy Solution

The fuel cell’s ability to deliver reliable power to an inaccessible location was underlined dramatically in 1999 in the heart of the nation’s largest city.

The New York City Police Department’s Central Park precinct had been struggling for several years with insufficient power for routine operations; the NYPA fuel cell proved to be the most economical solution.

The Central Park fuel cell has more than met expectations, operating at close to 98 percent availability. Maintenance is minimal.

More recently, the precinct has begun using four NYPA-supplied Honda electric patrol vehicles, specially equipped for duty within the environmentally sensitive park. The fuel cell helps provide power to recharge the vehicles.

For the Power Authority, the NYPD’s fuel cell contributes to advancing a new distributed generation option toward commercial reality.

For New York’s finest, it’s meant an opportunity to run a busy precinct at full capacity, with state-of-the-art office technologies consistently available.

And for New Yorkers, it’s a small but meaningful step toward cleaner air. Specifically, the NYPD’s 200-kw fuel cell, operating over 8,400 hours, will produce 1,100 fewer tons of carbon dioxide than a traditional power generator would. And it will avoid contributing 40,000 pounds of other pollutants to New York City’s air.

Those statistics fit very well with the New York Power Authority’s goal to advance the use of technologies—solar, fuel cell, microturbines—that meet New York’s rising demands for power and for cleaner air.

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Location: Central Park, New York City

Host: New York City Police Department

Rating: 200 kW (ac)

Operation: Grid-independent

Installation Date: April 1999

Manufacturer: IFC

No. of Units: 1

Technology: Phosphoric Acid

Fuel: Natural Gas