Wake Forest Charlotte Center to Host Panel Discussion about Apple Fuel Cell Project in N.C.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Apple’s plans for the nation’s biggest private fuel cell energy project to be built in North Carolina will be the topic of a special panel discussion on Wednesday, April 25 from 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. at the Wake Forest University Charlotte Center.

The event is free and open to the public.

The fuel cell project is the nation’s largest such project not built by an electric utility company, and will be developed this year at Apple’s Maiden, North Carolina data center. The data complex has already earned the LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council and will also host a planned 20-megawatt solar farm, the biggest ever proposed in the state.

Fuel cells generate electricity through an electro-chemical process and are compared to batteries that give out power as long as they have a source of hydrogen.

Panelists who will discuss this fuel cell energy project and its impact on our future include:

• Dan Rastler, Senior Manager in the Energy Storage & Distributed Energy Resources program at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)

• Michael Youth, Counsel and Regulatory Advisor, North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association

• Richard Williams, Reynolds Professor, Physics Dept., Wake Forest University

The panel will be moderated by Dr. Dan Fogel, Associate Director of Policy, Enterprise, & Markets at the Wake Forest University Center for Energy, Environment and Sustainability. He is also an Executive Professor of Strategy at the Wake Forest Schools of Business.

“Energy has the potential to surpass the financial services industry to become the economic driver of the region,” said Fogel. “We have assembled a panel of experts who will talk about the pros and cons of fuel cell technology.”

Advance registration is required. Click here for the online registration link.