Fuel Cell Statement of Qualification Application

All fuel cells must:

• Be at least as efficient as the current average for emitting locational marginal units, as based on the heat rates for these units shown in the most recent ISO-NE Electric Generator Air Emissions report available at the time the fuel cell submits its application.

If the Fuel Cell generates both electricity and useful thermal energy, than the fuel cell must have an overall efficiency of 55% on an annual basis.

• If a fuel cell uses propane to generate hydrogen, it must certify that the propane was generated using natural gas only.
• Cannot have a Commercial Operation Date earlier than January 1, 2017.
• Must be interconnected to the grid in Massachusetts, or, if the unit is off-grid, it must be located in Massachusetts. 

For more information on fuel cells in the APS, please visit our APS Statement of Qualification webpage.

Pursuant to 225 CMR 16.05(1)(a)(7)(c), a  fuel cell generation unit shall earn one and a half Alternative Energy Certificates (AECs) for each MWh of electricity and/or 3,412,000 British thermal units of net Useful Thermal Energy generated.  

Fuel cell generation shall be metered according to the specifications in the Department’s Guideline on Metering and Calculating the Energy Output of Eligible Fuel Cell Generation Units and verified by an independent Third Party Meter Reader, as defined in Rule 2.5(j) of the NEPOOL GIS Operating Rules and approved by the Department.  The guideline can be accessed here. 

All fuel cell units are required to submit the following in their Statement of Qualification Application:

• Site and facility information
  • Site plan (attachment)
• Contact information
• Equipment specifications
  • Equipment arrangement drawing (attachment)
  • Annotated product literature for all major equipment (attachment)
• Design Specifications
  • Description of System Controls and Sequence of Operations (attachment)
  • A process flow diagram (attachment)
  • A one line electrical diagram (attachment)
• NEPOOL GIS information
• AEC Service Agreement (not required, attachment)
• APS Performance Workbook (attachment)
• Independent Verifier request form (attachment)
• A metering plan including a list of meters (attachment)
  • Annotated product literature for each APS meter (attachment)
  • Annotated product literature for the Data Acquisition System (DAS) (attachment)
• Certified Performance Data Construct (intermediate Generation Units only) (attachment)

DOER has established deadlines for submitting applications for each quarter. If a system wishes to receive credit for production in a particular quarter, it must submit a complete application by the deadline for that quarter. For example, if a project interconnected on January 1^st submitted an application after the Q1 deadline of May 15^th, it would lose all credit for production occurring between January 1^st and March 31^st. 

All intermediate and large Generation Units (except intermediate biomass systems less than 0.134 MMBtu/hr capacity) are required to contract with an Independent Verifier (Third Party Meter Reader), also referred to as an IV. The duty of the IV is to access/read the output of each meter of the unit, assure itself that the reading is reasonable, and accurately report the generation of the unit to the NEPOOL GIS (GIS) on a quarterly basis. Such reporting is done via the IV's own account at the GIS. DOER has provided a list of Massachusetts RPS/APS Qualified IVs for reference below. However, applicants are not required to select an IV from the list and the inclusion of an IV on the list does not necessarily guarantee its approval for all Generation Units. All applicants must attach the Independent Verifier Request Form to the online application and provide the details on the IV chosen. If the chosen IV is not already registered at the GIS, the IV must register via the GIS homepage ( www.nepoolgis.com); such registration can be completed only when the Department informs the GIS it has approved the IV for that Generation Unit.

All small Generation Units and intermediate biomass Generation Units less than 0.134 MMBtu/hr do not need to contract with an Independent Verifier, as the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center will act as the Independent Verifier for all of these systems. 

RPS/APS List of Independent Verifiers 

APS Renewable Thermal Independent Verifier Request Form

DOER encourages Owners of all sizes and technologies to take advantage of Aggregations, managed by an aggregators. An aggregator provides the benefits of managing the qualification process through DOER, establishing a NEPOOL GIS account and asset ID on behalf of the Generation Unit, and the marketing and sale of a Generation Unit's AECs. Owner should be aware of and carefully consider the aggregator’s contract terms and fees for the disposal of its members' AECs. A reference list of aggregators working in the Massachusetts market is provided below. 

An Aggregation can only be composed of projects that are of the same technology, located in the same state, and each meet all applicable eligibility criteria for qualification under APS.

If the system is part of an Aggregation and the system owner and aggregator are separate entities, than the following document must be signed by each party attesting that a contract has been signed and should the contract be terminated DOER will be notified within 30 days. 

List of Aggregators

AEC Service Agreement