The MCFC Research Association has been conducting R&D of the 1000 kW class MCFC Power Plant under contracting research with New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) as a part of the New Sunshine Program, promoted by the Agency of Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Ministry of International Trade rind Industry (MITI). The plant consists of four 250-kW stacks, a reformer, two cathode gas recycle blowers, a turbine compressor, a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG). The power plant is the first Japanese practical external reforming pressurized type MCFC power generation plant intended for large-scale commercial plant in the near future. The construction of the 1000 kW MCFC power plant started in autumn of 1995 on Kawagoe test station in Kawagoe Thermal Power Station of Chubu Electric Power, which is located in the prefecture of Mie, Japan. The construction and installation of the plant progressed very well, and process and control (PAC) testing of the power plant (not including fuel cell stacks and inverters) was carried out through March-November of 1998. After the PAC test, the cell stacks and inverters were installed in the test site; currently, the power generation test has just started. This paper describes the outline of the plant, the status of the test and the future schedule. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.
