FuelCell Energy is proud to spotlight the San Bernardino Municipal Water Department (SBMWD) for its leadership in deploying a carbonate fuel cell system at the San Bernardino Water Reclamation Plant—an achievement that reflects the Department’s long-standing commitment to beneficially using digester gas while adapting to changing air quality regulations. SBMWD operates a regional secondary treatment facility with a capacity of 33 million gallons per day. Since its establishment in 1973, the plant has reliably provided high-quality wastewater services to the Department’s service area, including the City of San Bernardino, the City of Loma Linda, Patton State Hospital, San Bernardino International Airport, and several unincorporated areas of San Bernardino County.
Over the years, the facility has continued to evolve.
Meeting air quality requirements with carbonate fuel cells
For years, SBMWD had been beneficially using the digester gas produced through wastewater treatment. Since 2005, the Department has used that gas to fuel internal combustion engines driving process and power generation equipment. As South Coast Air Quality Management District regulations evolved, SBMWD looked ahead to identify a power solution that would support continued compliance while preserving its long-standing practice of beneficially using digester gas. Through a public-private partnership with FuelCell Energy, SBMWD commissioned a 1.4-megawatt combined heat and power (CHP) fuel cell system that provided a compliant path forward while converting biogas into on-site electricity and usable thermal energy.
SBMWD structured the project under a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). Under this model, FuelCell Energy engineered, constructed, installed, and commissioned both the fuel cell facility and the digester gas pretreatment system, and continues to provide long-term operation and maintenance for both. That single-source responsibility was a critical element and essential to the project’s success. It provides end-to-end accountability for fuel treatment and power generation while helping the Department implement the most capital-efficient option available to maintain compliance and continue beneficially using digester gas.
Reliable biogas conditioning helps turn waste into valuable energy
The fuel cell system now supplies more than 50 percent of the water reclamation plant’s electricity needs, while also producing hot water used to improve digester efficiency. FuelCell Energy’s proprietary biogas conditioning system removes contaminants from raw digester gas, producing clean fuel suitable for continuous fuel cell operation—an approach that helps SBMWD meet strict regional air quality requirements while continuing the Department’s longstanding practice of beneficially using the biogas produced through wastewater treatment.
FuelCell Energy's biogas conditioning system located at San Bernardino Municipal Water Department.
As one of FuelCell Energy’s earliest biogas conditioning systems, it was designed to provide end-to-end accountability across both digester gas pretreatment and fuel cell performance. That integrated approach helped eliminate the risk and complexity that can arise when multiple vendors are responsible for different parts of the process, and it proved essential to the project’s success. The system demonstrates a reliable and efficient waste-to-energy fuel cell application that can be replicated at other wastewater treatment facilities.
“The system has been in operation since 2021 and has been consistently providing energy to our facility,” said Kevin Stewart, Director of Water Reclamation at SBMWD. “FuelCell Energy is responsible for both the fuel cell and the digester gas pretreatment. This was a critical element that made the project successful when compared against prior projects from other agencies. The fact that one entity does both has been essential to success.”
Community impact
The results extend well beyond the facility’s fence line. SBMWD serves the wastewater needs of approximately 200,000 residents, and its Digester Gas Beneficial Use Program generates approximately 2.7 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually.
SBMWD’s leadership has not gone unnoticed. At the 2023 California Water Environment Association (CWEA) annual awards ceremony, the department received the Engineering Achievement Award for its Digester Gas Beneficial Use Program, with the FuelCell Energy fuel cell system recognized as a core enabling technology.