Chattanooga Unveils Innovative Technology and Provides Clean, Reliable Power for Tennessee Valley

Officials and representatives in Chattanooga, Tennessee, recently inaugurated the City’s first Bloom Box, a 100 kW energy server based on cutting-edge fuel cell technology. The project is the continuation of a long-standing partnership, facilitated by Congressman Zach Wamp, between the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the National Center for Computational Engineering (SimCenter), EPB, TVA, The Enterprise Center and California’s Bloom Energy.

“UTC and the Tennessee Valley, have been exceptional partners from the beginning and the valuable insights gained here have helped shape our product into the commercially viable entity it is today,” said KR Sridhar, Co-founder and CEO of Bloom Energy. “We are thrilled to be here to celebrate the continuation of Bloom Energy’s collaboration with Tennessee’s Congressional leadership, the Tennessee Valley Authority, EPB, and the University.”

With major support from Congressman Zach Wamp, and in conjunction with TVA, this project will provide 24/7 clean, reliable power to EPB’s building.

“The Tennessee Valley has been involved with this technology for a long time, and we’re now at the point of demonstrating its viability as a compliment to the grid. The ultimate goal would be to manufacture fuel cells in Tennessee and further advance the new manufacturing boon in the Tennessee Valley Corridor,” said Congressman Wamp. “Bloom’s technology could have a tremendous impact for the world in creating new energy sources and is cleaner and more efficient than much of today’s power generation. Fuel cell technology coupled with increased nuclear energy could significantly shrink our country’s carbon footprint.”

Chattanooga continues to be on the forefront of technology. Home to the National Center for Computational Engineering (SimCenter), the largest municipal 100% Fiber Optics network, and one of the most automated Smart Grids in the nation, the 100 kW Energy Server is yet another shining example of Chattanooga quickly becoming a recognized national leader in state-of-the-art thinking and innovation.