Bloom Energy Offers Leasing Program with Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Bloom Energy, the Sunnyvale, California, producer of solid-oxide fuel cell technology, has formed a leasing program with Bank of America Merrill Lynch that will enable business customers to deploy Bloom Boxes without making an up-front capital investment.

The relationship with Bloom is part of the Bank of America’s $50 billion environmental business initiative, which delivers lending, equipment finance, capital markets and advisory activities, and carbon markets financing to clients around the world to help address global climate change and demands on natural resources.

The program with the New York City-based financial group already has made a multi-million dollar commitment to two clean energy projects, to be deployed at:

• TaylorMade-Adidas Golf Company’s manufacturing facility in Carlsbad, California, a subsidiary of Germany’s Adidas Group that produces and markets a complete line of golf clubs, golf bags and accessories; and
• Honda (News - Alert) Center in Anaheim, California, home to the National Hockey League’s Pacific Division Anaheim Ducks.

“Bank of America Merrill Lynch has been a leader in providing capital and investment solutions for clean energy deployment,” said Bill Kurtz, chief financial & commercial officer of Bloom Energy. “This program demonstrates the value in Bloom’s technology for customers and organizations looking for ways to invest and support the transition to a clean energy future.”

Above, Bank of America has Bloom Boxes at its own facilities.

 “Our company has a long history of supporting innovation in energy and developing financing mechanisms to make clean energy more accessible,” said Paul Omohundro, head of Global Vendor Finance for BofA Merrill, New York City. “This program extends the impact of the bank’s commitment to focusing on environmental issues and empowers other organizations to deploy clean energy on a large scale.”

“The Bloom project enhances our operations and reduces our carbon emissions while we remain focused on our main goal— to deliver innovative high performance products,” said Andy Stenz, facilities director, TaylorMade-Adidas Golf Company.  “Through the Bank of America leasing program, we can use our existing budget to support the Bloom project and realize benefits immediately.” 

“We strive to be a progressive leader in our industry and are proud to be the second sports and entertainment arena to utilize this innovative technology,” said Michael Schulman, chairman of the board of Honda Center, home of the Anaheim Ducks. “Working with Bloom Energy allows us to immediately reduce our carbon emissions, while continuing to provide the outstanding entertainment environment our fans have come to expect.”

Schulman is referring to the deployment of two 200-kilowatt (kW) Bloom Energy Servers in October 2012 by Sharks Sports & Entertainment (SSE), manager of the San Jose City-owned HP Pavilion at San Jose— which serves as home to the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League and hosts a multitude of sports and entertainment events annually.

With the implementation of the Bloom Energy Servers, HP Pavilion at San Jose became the first multi-purpose sports and entertainment facility to use fuel cell technology as a supplemental electricity source. Sharks Sports & Entertainment also uses Bloom Energy Servers at Sharks Ice at San Jose, a public recreational ice facility owned by the City of San Jose and managed by SSE.

By installing the Bloom Energy Servers, HP Pavilion at San Jose is using cheaper and cleaner electricity to power the venue. The Bloom boxes, which also have been deployed by other corporations throughout San Jose and the Silicon Valley—including Google, eBay (News - Alert), and Adobe—replace approximately 90 percent of the electrical utility power at HP Pavilion used during non-event hours and approximately 25 percent used on a Sharks game day. Due to the efficiency of the Bloom box, HP Pavilion at San Jose will reduce its carbon footprint by 4.8 million pounds of CO2 over a 10-year period.

Bloom Energy Servers convert natural gas or renewable biogas into electricity using a direct electrochemical reaction rather than combustion. The company was founded in 2001 with a mission to make clean, reliable energy affordable for everyone in the world. Bloom Energy Servers are currently producing power for several Fortune 500 companies including Google, Walmart, AT&T, eBay, Staples (News - Alert), The Coca-Cola Company, as well as notable non-profit organizations such as Caltech and Kaiser Permanente.