Spokane Valley fuel cell developer, ReliOn, announced Tuesday it's gained an additional $6 million in further investment from its existing backers.

The money, according to a ReliOn release, will help push further U.S. commercial sales and expand marketing and sales internationally.

The focus in Europe derives, in part, from ReliOn's recently announced partnership with HOPPECKE Batteriren GmbH, a major European innovator and producer of battery systems.

A press release Tuesday noted that privately held ReliOn has enjoyed a nice upward swing in sales and gross profit.

The release also quoted CEO Gary Flood saying, “With this funding, we are able to accelerate a number of important programs currently underway which move the company toward our objective of becoming the first profitable fuel cell company.”

A while back Bert Caldwell discussed in a column the concerns among regional power producers if California adopts or doesn’t adopt significant energy-generation measures.

We think this item, about a San Diego Albertson’s, is interesting and worth  reading, for a few reasons. One, we do have Albertsons in this area. We don’t see this happening soon in Eastern Washington, but since ReliON, based in Spokane, produces fuel cells, perhaps it’s not that far a reach.

Boise, Idaho-based grocery chain Albertsons is slated to open a new store in San Diego’s Clairemont community that will be one of the first in California to generate nearly 90 percent of its electricity from fuel cell technology. Using a 400-kilowatt fuel cell from UTC Power, a United Technologies Corp., the 55,000-sq.-ft. green Albertsons store will officially open on Sept. 1.

 

“When it comes to minimizing our environmental footprint, the Clairemont store is a tremendous achievement for us,” noted Rick Crandall, Albertsons’ director of environmental stewardship.

“With the assistance of UTC Power’s fuel cell, it’s our first store that significantly reduces its burden on the power grid.”