Rossi has said that they are now able to get a stable steam temperature of 260 C from the 1 MW plant, and when asked by a reader whether he will try to raise this temperature he responded that it was “not a priority”. So he seems to be satisfied that he has enough heat to work with.
Asked what the next milestone for the E-Cat was, Rossi replied “self sustained using self produced electricity = infinite energy: the dream of Tesla (and mine)”.
While it sounds like this milestone will be technically feasible, it will likely take a lot of time to achieve. To get 15 MW of electrical power (Rossi’s stated goal) he said he will need to build 45 1 MW plants. The reactors for these plants will be different from the 10 kW domestic units that are to be mass produced, so there will be lots of time, engineering and money to get this done. Rossi says a 45 MW plant would weigh 200 tonnes!
We’ll have to wait and see what plans are in place to build this unit — it will be huge undertaking, but if Rossi can make such a plant it will be a technological marvel — a self sustaining power plant running on small amounts of nickel and hydrogen with the ability to power a small community would certainly be a breakthrough that would garner lots of attention. And if that plant could be built and it worked — what would be next?