Jun. 18--FuelCell Energy Inc. said Tuesday it will sell 6.7 million shares of its common stock at a discount in an attempt to raise $24.2 million, money that could be used to expand capacity at the company's manufacturing facility in Torrington.

The Danbury-based company, which makes fuel cell power plants for generating electricity, said it would sell the stock at $3.59 per share in a registered direct offering. That price is an 18 percent discount from Monday's closing price of $4.39 per share.

The offering is expected to close Friday, the company said.

The money will be used for product development, project financing, expansion of manufacturing capacity, and general corporate purposes, the company said.

Company spokeswoman Lisa Lettieri called expanding the company's 65,000-square-foot manufacturing plant on Technology Park Drive in Torrington a "definite possibility," depending on the volume and status of future fuel cell orders.

For example, the company is currently waiting to receive the contracts to build fuel cell power plants totaling 43.5 megawatts throughout Connecticut as part of the state's Project 150 program, she said.

The Torrington plant is currently capable of producing 30 megawatts of fuel cell power plants per year, Lettieri said. It could expand its production capacity, or "run rate," to about 70 megawatts per year with an investment of $3 million to $4 million in new equipment, she said.

It would take an investment of $30 million to $40 million to bring the facility to its maximum capacity of 150 megawatts per year without expanding the physical size of the plant, she said.

The plant employs about 250 people, she said. The company has not yet determined how many additional workers it would need to hire if it expands its run rate.

Once the company completes the registered direct offering, it will have more than $90 million available for product development, plant expansion and other corporate purposes, Lettieri said.

That total includes money the company raised last week when it agreed to sell $25 million in shares of its common stock to Posco Power, South Korea's leading independent power producer, at $3.59 per share.

FuelCell Energy shares have been trading between $1.98 and $8.83 per share over the past year. The stock, which is sold on the Nasdaq stock market under the symbol FCEL, lost 59 cents, or 13 percent, Tuesday to close at $3.80 per share.

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