CBS Studios will install six PureCell stationary fuel cell systems with a total capacity of 2.4 MW at two production locations in California, according to fuel cell maker UTC Power.
The PureCell combined heat and power systems will prevent the release of more than 2,370 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually and help CBS to save more than 2.8 million gallons of water a year, UTC says.
The broadcaster will install three units at CBS Studio Center, a production facility with 18 sound stages and office space in Studio City, Calif. It will install three others at CBS Television City, a Los Angeles campus housing eight sound stages and office space.
UTC says the PureCell systems will lower the studios’ energy costs, providing 40 percent of electricity needs for the Studio Center and 60 percent for Television City. The systems will use thermal energy to provide cooling for both studios, as well as space heating and hot water at Television City.
Additionally, installers will configure four of the PureCell systems to operate independently of the electric grid, providing power backups during blackouts, natural disasters and man-made emergencies.
California’s Self-Generation Incentive Program partially funded the project.
In April, UTC announced that the News Corporation headquarters in New York City would install a PureCell system to provide hot water and electricity for its TV studios.
In 2011, a New York City waterfront apartment building called the Octagon became the first residential property in New York State to be powered and heated by a 400 kW PureCell system, and Coca-Cola installed two UTC fuel cells at one of its refreshment plants in East Hartford, Conn.
A 400-kW PureCell system also provides most of the electricity for a Price Chopper supermarket location in Albany, N.Y.