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FacebookFuel cell production ramping up at Dayton site
UltraCell Corp. expects to ship operational fuel cells to its California headquarters by year's end.
Friday, August 31, 2007
DAYTON — UltraCell Corp. is ramping up production at its new Dayton plant and expects to begin shipping operating fuel cells to its Livermore, Calif., headquarters operation by year's end, a company executive said Thursday.
The company began producing fuel cell components in May and has been shipping fuel cell components and subassemblies to Livermore for final assembly, said Frank Beafore, UltraCell's vice president of manufacturing.
Extras
By year's end, he expects to start shipping to Livermore the so-called "engine blocks" — the fuel cell and fuel processor, which make up the electricity-generating cell's active unit. Livermore will test the products and ship them to customers.
Livermore, where UltraCell began four years ago, handles research and development. The company hopes to eventually bring all of that to its Dayton plant, which is its first large-scale manufacturing operation.
Fuel cells run on hydrogen and generate electricity, water and heat. UltraCell is among a growing number of companies making and assembling fuel cell components in Ohio.
UltraCell is leasing its space at Dayton International Airport in a building at 3250 Old Springfield Road from Miller-Valentine Group, landlord for the city-owned space. The company plans a dedication ceremony there on Sept. 11 and has invited state and local officials, customers and vendors.
The company makes 25-watt micro fuel cells, not much bigger than a book, that it sells to the Army and Air Force for use as portable power sources in the field. UltraCell hopes to market the products to emergency responders, such as police and fire departments, and later for general use to power laptops and two-way radios.
The company has nearly 60 employees in California and 10 in Dayton, Beafore said. He projects employment of 16 to 20 people in Dayton by year's end and, depending on business, 30 to 60 in 2008 and 60 to 120 the following year. UltraCell has promised the state it expects to employ 360 people by January 2012.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or
jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.
