I think this is quite a milestone. I don’t remember Andrea Rossi saying that they have produced electricity with the E-Cat before now, but it seems that this has been achieved.
Today on the Journal of Nuclear Physics there was the following Q&A between Andrea Rossi and Mark Saker:
1) During your R&D can you confirm that you have produced electricity using the e-cat?
A: Yes, but still at R&D primary stage level.
2) If so, have you recycled the electricity into controlling the e-cat creating a closed loop or is that in the future?
A: No
A recent comment from Rossi indicated that they were working on this, and he said that their primary focus on the means of electricity production was via the Carnot Cycle, but that they were “totally open to new commercial breakthroughs related to other systems.”
In a related comment, after Rossi has said that this new plant (with some changes) could be adapted to operate Hot Cats, a reader asked Rossi whether the new 1MW plant could be used for the production of electricity.
Rossi responded, “Probably”.
So it seems that R&D work goes on, and electricity production is certainly a focus. We don’t know anything about the power levels or efficiencies attained, but probably at this point they are fairly modest. In its essence, the E-Cat is a heat producer, and heat is a vital form of energy. But if the E-Cat can turn heat into electricity in an economical way it will become a much more versatile and useful energy technology.