The BlueGen unit has been installed at a VicUrban sales office in Aurora Housing Development in Melbourne suburb of Epping. VicUrban’s Aurora project is a six-star energy-efficient community development in Australia.
The BlueGen unit will be switched on in early January, generating low emission power and hot water from readily available natural gas. Origin Energy has also joined in the demonstration project as VicUrban’s selected energy retailer. Origin Energy will buy back excess electricity generated by the VicUrban BlueGen units.
The Epping BlueGen unit is the first of three units that will be installed at VicUrban housing developments. All sites will showcase Ceramic Fuel Cells’ low-emission gas-to-electricity BlueGen products to the general public and commercial home builders. The second BlueGen unit will be installed in VicUrban’s living Centre in Dandenong, in mid 2010. The third BlueGen unit will be installed in another VicUrban site later in 2010.
About the size of a small washing machine, each BlueGen unit can produce up to 17,000kWh of power a year. Surplus electricity can be exported back to the grid.
