One of the more surprising pieces of information to come from the NyTeknik coverage of Andrea Rossi’s recent E-Cat demonstration in Bologna had nothing to do with the experiment at hand. Rather, it was the fact that the 1 MW plant was still sitting in Bologna rather than somewhere in the United States. Rossi has been talking frequently over the last few months about how he would be launching his 1 MW plant at the premises of a major US partner, but there seems to have been a hiccup in that plan.
In the NyTeknik article Rossi explained the problem: ““We had a preliminary agreement with a very important party in the U.S., but when we received the final draft, it included conditions that our lawyers said that we should not accept.” Because of this, shipment of the 1 MW plant was blocked, and so the unit remains in Italy.
Yesterday I posted a question to Rossi on his web site, seeking clarification from him as to whether despite this abrupt change in plans, the launch will still go ahead as scheduled, in the last week of October. He replied, “When I say a thing, I do it. I said by the end of October we will test the 1 MW plant and we will do it.”
Where this test will take place is still unclear — although it seems possible that it could take place in the Bologna location where it now located. There are only three weeks left in October, and it seems like it would be quite an undertaking to move the large container unit and get it set up somewhere else at this short notice.
The whole E-Cat affair has been strange, unpredictable, yet fascinating — and Andrea Rossi has had plenty of problems and obstacles to deal with. He seems fixed on his goal to go ahead with the 1 MW plant launch this month in spite of the difficulties that crop up, and one can’t help but admire his dogged determination. It’s going to continue to be an interesting month.
