Doosan Fuel Cell America

Doosan Fuel Cell
Subsidiary
Industry Alternative energy
Founded 2003
Headquarters South Windsor, Connecticut, USA
37°22′55″N 122°00′31″W / 37.38201°N 122.00848°W / 37.38201; -122.00848Coordinates: 37°22′55″N 122°00′31″W / 37.38201°N 122.00848°W / 37.38201; -122.00848
Key people
 Jeff Hyungrak Chung, President and CEO [1]
Products Fuel cells
Number of employees
 200+ (2011)
Parent Doosan Group
Website www.doosanfuelcell.com

Doosan Fuel Cell America (formerly ClearEdge Power, Inc.) is a fuel cell manufacturer focusing on the stationary fuel cell. It is headquartered in South Windsor, Connecticut, U.S. The company employed 225 people as of August 2011.[2] It closed its operations in Connecticut in April 2014,[3] and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May 2014.[4] The company has been merged with Fuel Cell Power[5] under a new name Doosan Fuel Cell .[6]

History

The company was founded in 2003 as Quantum Leap Technology[7][8] after Brett Vinsant created the company's fuel cell in his garage in Hillsboro, Oregon.[9] In August 2005, Quantum Leap changed its name to ClearEdge Power.[8] In January 2006, they received a $2 million investment from a subsidiary of Applied Materials.[10] At that time the company built fuel cell systems to produce back-up power and for continuous power applications.[10] By May 2007, the company had grown to 20 employees and had raised $10 million in venture capital.[11] In early 2008, ClearEdge sold and installed its first fuel cell unit.[12]

ClearEdge received an additional $11 million in venture capital from Kohlberg Ventures LLC in January 2009.[13] On May 1, 2009, Russell Ford became the chief executive officer of the then 40-employee company,[14] with Slangerup joining the board of directors.[7]

The company expanded the 55,000-square-foot (5,100 m2) headquarters to 80,000 square feet (7,400 m2) in December 2009 after receiving an additional $15 million in venture capital from Kohlberg Ventures.[15] At that time the company had grown to 150 employees, and 95% of all capital raised came from Kohlberg Ventures.[7] ClearEdge raised a total of $29 million from Kohlberg in 2009 alone.[16] In November 2009, the company began to ship a five kilowatt fuel cell and had orders for 300 of the units by December 2009.[17][18] ClearEdge gained $11 million more in private financing in January 2010.[19][20]

In February 2010, a fuel cell was installed at a Hillsboro Fire Department station; local dignitaries included Congressman David Wu.[21] Wu’s district includes ClearEdge’s headquarters in Hillsboro, and Wu has sponsored several bills that would provide tax credits for fuel cell customers.[21][22][23] ClearEdge backed one of the bills, which would increase the federal tax credit for installing a fuel cell at a residence to be same as for businesses.[22][24] Neither of Wu’s bills has made it out of committee.

ClearEdge Power logo

ClearEdge signed a $40 million deal in June 2010 to supply 800 fuel cells to Korean based LS Industrial Systems over a three-year period.[25][26] LS Industrial Systems would sell the ClearEdge5 units in Korea, which had recently required 10 percent of power on new construction come from renewable power.[27] This was the first large contract for the company outside of its core California market.[25] The company planned to build 1,000 units in 2010, and double that in 2011.[9] ClearEdge was awarded a $2.8 million federal Department of Energy grant that would allow them to provide 38 fuel cells to ten different organizations including a grocery store and community college.[28] They raised $73.5 million in private equity funding in August 2011 to help expand sales to Europe and South Korea.[2]

In December 2012, ClearEdge reached an agreement with United Technologies Corp. to buy its fuel cell business, UTC Power.[29] In February 2013, ClearEdge closed on its acquisition of UTC Power.[30] The next month, the company reduced its workforce by 39%, with many layoffs coming at the former UTC unit.[31] Later that month the company announced it had raised another $36 million in capital.[32] In 2013, the company relocated its headquarters to Sunnyvale, California.[33] The former UTC unit in Connecticut was then closed without warning in April 2014 as the company weighed filing for bankruptcy protection.[3]

In July 2014, ClearEdge was purchased by South Korean conglomerate Doosan Group for 32.4 million, plus debt.[34]

Operations

Doosan Fuel Cell's headquarters are in South Windsor, Connecticut. The main product is a four hundred kilowatt fuel cell.

The technology is based on silicon and operates at 320 °F (160 °C).[8][12]

The fuel cell is powered by natural gas which a membrane breaks down into water, heat, carbon dioxide (CO2), and hydrogen, with the latter passing through a second membrane where electricity is generated.[17] CO2 and water are the only waste produced. The micro combined heat and power fuel cell have approximately 85% total fuel efficiency.[12][17] PEM fuel systems have an electric efficiency of about 30% .[23]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "CEO". doosanfuelcell.com.
  2. 1 2 Young, Molly (August 23, 2011). "Hillsboro-based ClearEdge Power raises $73.5 million to finance global growth". The Oregonian. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
  3. 1 2 Young, Molly (April 28, 2014). "ClearEdge Power: 'No reasonable option' except pursuing bankruptcy, closing Connecticut operations". The Oregonian. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  4. ↑ Young, Molly (May 5, 2014). "ClearEdge Power files for bankruptcy as financial woes mount". The Oregonian. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  5. ↑ Fuel Cell Power
  6. ↑ Doosan $32.4 million U.S. deal marks second fuel cell buy
  7. 1 2 3 Siemers, Erik (December 18, 2009). "ClearEdge hums along". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  8. 1 2 3 "Quantum Leap Technology changes name". Portland Business Journal. August 31, 2005. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  9. 1 2 Weinstein, Nathalie (March 1, 2010). "ClearEdge Power keeping base in Oregon". Daily Journal of Commerce. Portland, Oregon. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  10. 1 2 "Fuel cell startup lands $2M". Portland Business Journal. January 27, 2006. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  11. ↑ Kish, Matthew (May 4, 2007). "Fuel cell makers hope to make power lines obsolete". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  12. 1 2 3 Firestone, Rebecca (June 16, 2009). "Fuel Cells Offer Clean-Burning and Efficient Heat and Power". Green Compliance Plus. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  13. ↑ Siemers, Erik (May 15, 2009). "ClearEdge seeks $30M". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  14. ↑ "ClearEdge Power names president". Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal. May 5, 2009. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  15. ↑ Siemers, Erik (January 6, 2010). "ClearEdge sustains brisk growth". Sustainable Business Oregon. American City Business Journals. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  16. ↑ Rogoway, Mike (January 22, 2010). "Venture capital slides in Oregon, nationally". The Oregonian. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  17. 1 2 3 Kanellos, Michael (November 24, 2009). "Will Fuel Cells Rival Solar in California?". greentechenterprise. Greentech Media.
  18. ↑ Soto, Onell R. (March 7, 2010). "Fueling the future: Fuel cells show promise". The San Diego Union-Tribune.
  19. ↑ "ClearEdge nabs USD 11m to back fuel cells". ADP Renewable Energy Track. January 26, 2010.
  20. ↑ sanjayV03 (January 28, 2010). "United States: ClearEdge works to make fuel cells common home appliances, raises $11M". TendersInfo. Euclid Infotech Pvt. Ltd.
  21. 1 2 Oram, Bill (February 17, 2010). "Rep. David Wu to learn how fuel cells are made, tour Hillsboro plant that makes 'em". The Oregonian. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  22. 1 2 Learn, Scott (September 29, 2009). "Oregon congressman wants $100 million for energy upgrades in commercial buildings". The Oregonian. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  23. 1 2 "Green Fuel Gone Residential". GreenHome. Sierra Club. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  24. ↑ "Clear Edge readies residential, small commercial fuel cells". Restructuring Today. GHI LLC. October 14, 2009. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  25. 1 2 Siemers, Erik (June 8, 2010). "Fuel-cell maker ClearEdge signs $40 million deal". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  26. ↑ Hoch, Jessica (June 16, 2010). "ClearEdge scores $40 million in Korea - next stop Oregon?". Oregon Business.
  27. ↑ Weinstein, Nathalie (June 10, 2010). "Hillsboro fuel cells go to Korea". Daily Journal of Commerce. Portland, Oregon. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  28. ↑ Williams, Christina (June 14, 2011). "ClearEdge awarded $2.8M DOE grant for fuel cell deployment". Sustainable Business Oregon. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
  29. ↑ "United Technologies selling unit to ClearEdge Power of Hillsboro". The Oregonian. Associated Press. December 22, 2012.
  30. ↑ Nirappil, Fenit (February 12, 2013). "ClearEdge Power finalizes acquisition of UTC Power". The Oregonian. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  31. ↑ Kane, Brad (March 14, 2013). "S. Windsor fuel cell maker reduces workforce 39 percent". Hartford Business Journal. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
  32. ↑ Giegerich, Andy (March 18, 2013). "ClearEdge cleans up, nabbing a $36M financing round". Sustainable Business Oregon. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  33. ↑ "Amendment to Annual Report" (PDF). Business Entity Data. Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  34. ↑ "South Korea's Doosan buys U.S. fuel cell maker ClearEdge for $32.4 million". Reuters. 2014-07-21.

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