Mr Rennocks, who is the current Chairman of Nestor Healthcare Group plc and Diploma plc and Deputy Chairman of Inmarsat plc, also holds several other non-executive directorships, including Babcock International Group plc, JP Morgan Fleming Overseas Investment Trust plc, Gyrus Group plc, Foreign and Colonial Investment Trust plc and Wagon plc.  He brings to his new role a wealth of experience in power generation, the automotive industry, biotechnology, support services and manufacturing, making him perfectly suited to chair this dynamic, clean energy company.

Intelligent Energy is at the forefront of the commercialisation of hydrogen fuel cells and fuel processing technologies that allow the desulphurisation of liquid fuels and the production of hydrogen gas from a wide range of both conventional and sustainable fuels.  The company is focused on providing fuel cell power systems for and reducing carbon footprints across a broad spectrum of markets, including automotive, aerospace, distributed generation, defence and portable power, as well as working with major oil and gas companies who are considering different models of delivery for their fuels.

Current customers include Boeing, PSA Peugeot Citroën and other commercial bodies.  Intelligent Energy also has programmes funded by the UK’s Department of Trade and Industry, the UK Ministry of Defence and the Department of Energy (DoE) and the Department of Defense (DoD) in the US.

Mr Rennocks commented: “I am delighted to join Intelligent Energy at a particularly exciting time for the company, with a number of developments being advanced by new agreements with key business and government customers.  I look forward to working with the management team and the shareholders of Intelligent Energy to accelerate the development of the opportunities the company has created.”

Intelligent Energy’s Chief Executive Dr Henri Winand added: “John’s arrival at Intelligent Energy as our new Chairman is excellent news.  He has tremendous Board experience directly relevant to the markets and industries in which our Group operates.  On behalf of the Company, I have the privilege of welcoming John to the team and very much look forward to working with him.

On behalf of the company, I would like to thank Flavio Guidotti, our retiring Chairman, for his valuable time and effort at the helm during our recent transition period.”

About Intelligent Energy:

Intelligent Energy is a fuel cell power systems company, with a range of leading fuel cell, fuel processing, desulphurisation and hydrogen generation technologies.  The company is focused on the provision of cleaner power and carbon abatement technologies.

The company has received high-level recognition both for its portfolio of innovative technologies and its business operations. The company was awarded the status of WEF Technology Pioneer 2006 by the World Economic Forum, one of only 36 advanced technology companies worldwide.  In 2005 Intelligent Energy was ranked 3rd in the Sunday Times Tech 100 league table of the top 100 privately-owned technology companies in the UK and was further awarded the Microsoft Tech Track Research and Development Award. 

Intelligent Energy’s proprietary fuel cell power systems and underlying technologies are characterised by high performance, the use of multifunctional low cost components designed for manufacturing and much simpler systems, resulting in fuel cell systems of reduced size, cost and complexity.  The company’s fuel processing and hydrogen generation platforms are fuel-flexible, providing hydrogen from a range of both conventional fossil fuel and sustainable fuel feedstocks.  Intelligent Energy continues to build upon its fundamental technological differentiators to produce fuel cell system platforms, which offer cost-effective solutions to clean energy provision across a broad range of applications.

Intelligent Energy has offices in Loughborough, London, Long Beach, Albuquerque and Johannesburg.