Rossi: First E-Cat Plants Under Construction, Will Sell Energy, Not Plants.

I have been trying to find out a bit more about the status of Andrea Rossi’s E-Cat commercialization plans, and it sounds like they are taking a more definite shape. Here are a few recent questions and answers from the Journal of Nuclear Physics that can help us piece things together:

Frank Acland
September 3, 2017 at 8:55 PM
Dear Andrea,

You say that your the first plants that you sell will be managed directly by you.

a) Can you explain what you mean by that?
b) Have you any agreements to build plants for customers yet?

Andrea Rossi
September 3, 2017 at 9:32 PM
Frank Acland:
a) that we will operate the plant and the Customer will not have access to the reactors
b) yes
Warm Regards,
A.R.

Frank Acland
September 3, 2017 at 10:50 PM
Dear Andrea,

Very interesting that you have agreements to build plants already.
a) Have you started building them yet?
b) When do you expect to have them completed?
c) Will you be selling the plant, or selling energy with these first plants?

Andrea Rossi
September 4, 2017 at 6:32 AM
Frank Acland:
a) yes
b) confidential
C) energy
Warm Regards,
A.R.

manuel cilia
September 4, 2017 at 6:04 AM
Dear Dr Rossi
The older Ecat where 1Mw in output, will the newer Xcats be of similar output or larger for industrial use.

Thank you

Andrea Rossi
September 4, 2017 at 6:30 AM
Manuel Cilia:
Higher.
Warm Regards,
A.R.

Rossi stated recently that the control system had been finalized, and now he says that the construction of the first E-Cat QX plants is underway. We learn now that these first plants will sell heat — he won’t be selling the plants themselves.

In the near term that could make business sense, as it gives Leonardo a chance to monitor the performance of these first plants closely (essentially they will be prototypes), learn how the plants perform in real world situations, make adjustments as needed, while also preventing outside access to the E-Cat reactors which is the critical IP — at the same time making money from selling heat directly to customers.

I don’t know how long they would plan to keep up with this business model. It would seem to be quite labor intensive for Leonardo, as they would need to have their own staff on hand 24/7 to manage the plants. Rossi has said that these first plants won’t be mass produced in the sense that they will be made in dedicated “robotized” factories, but they have some level of automation — and they would have to if they are going to producing enough E-Cat QX reactors, and control sytems, to build multi-MW plants as he now states.

So it would seem to me, taking Rossi’s comments at face value, that phase one of industrialization has started. It is limited and probably quite costly for Leonardo, but it may be enough to get an industrial foothold, and allow them to build dedicated factories and next move into the mass production phase that seems to be Andrea Rossi’s ultimate goal.