Is this producing electricity or heat? It seems from the article that it is producing heat, which would then need to be converted to steam to drive a turbine genrator to get electricity. If we say that we get 30% conversion it’s still $600 dollars for $13 of fuel.
Next question: Do you simply replace the reactants in the box or do you have to buy a new box?
The October pilot plant will just produce hot water, maybe low-pressure steam, don't know the details.
To produce power, you need HIGH pressure steam, which means you need e-cat units that will work reliably with a high-pressure boiler. LOTS more capital investment to produce power: high-pressure boiler, turbine, generator, condenser, electrical equipment, etc. For his next project, he might want to do a heating plant that will provide heating steam to a block of office buildings in a place that has cold winters and high fuel costs.
I don't know what will be involved in re-fueling a production unit. I'm hoping it will be something like swapping a cartridge which then gets recycled at the factory.