FuelCellsWorks

FREMONT, Calif.–Oorja Protonics, the leader in ultra-powerful liquid methanol fuel cell technology, secured an additional purchase order in less than six months from Super Store Industries (SSI). The additional orders underscore the significant cost-savings and productivity increases realized by SSI after deploying Oorja’s OorjaPac™ Model H earlier this year. SSI is the first commercial entity in the grocery distribution market to deploy methanol fuel cells for its material handling vehicles.

These field-tested methanol fuel cells have successfully addressed challenging conditions, such as the freezer environment, faced by the material handling vehicles used at SSI’s Lathrop, CA facility. Since its initial installation, OorjaPac has substantially reduced the vehicle and labor downtime due to vehicle battery pack charging and swapping, and SSI has placed subsequent orders for additional units, converting a significant portion of its material handling vehicles.

Earlier this year, SSI began to commercially deploy Oorja’s methanol fuel cells for the material handling fleet operating in its facility’s freezer to increase efficiency. A breakthrough on-board charging system for forklifts, pallet loaders and other material handling vehicles, OorjaPac allows SSI to charge batteries during times of operation and idling conditions. This results in optimized operational productivity and increased runtime for batteries on a single charge, ultimately minimizing the need to purchase multiple batteries per vehicle and eliminate multiple battery swaps throughout a full day of operation.

“The cost and productivity savings that we have gained have been so significant that we have already converted a large number of our material handling vehicles, even in this economy,” said Tom Hughes of SSI. “As OorjaPac takes less than one minute to refuel and supplies enough power for an entire shift, this greatly impacts our 24/7, 365-day operation.”

“OorjaPac immediately increases productivity and reduces the downtime associated with battery changing,” said Sanjiv Malhotra, Founder and CEO of Oorja Protonics. “Addressing the most daunting challenge being faced by the fuel cell industry, namely the ‘hydrogen problem,’ Oorja is leading the commercialization of fuel cells by using inexpensive, abundant and easy-to-handle methanol instead of volatile and expensive hydrogen for material handling operations.”

Additional information on Oorja Protonics and the OorjaPac can be found at www.oorjaprotonics.com.

About Oorja Protonics

Oorja Protonics designs, develops and manufacturers the most powerful direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) in the world. In development for three years and on its fifth generation of technology, Oorja’s products are customer proven, reliable, affordable and available today. Oorja’s customers include Fortune 50 companies in retail, automotive, logistics, and food processing. Founded in 2005, Oorja is a privately-held company and is backed by venture capital firms Sequoia Capital, Spring Ventures, McKenna Management and DAG Ventures. For more information, visit www.oorjaprotonics.com.

Combined Heat and Power Efficiency and Near-Zero Emissions Meet City of Tulare’s Need for Cost Savings and Clean Power

DANBURY, Conn. — FuelCell Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq:FCEL), a leading manufacturer of high efficiency ultra-clean power plants using renewable and other fuels for commercial, industrial, government, and utility customers, today announced the sale of a fourth DFC300 fuel cell unit to the City of Tulare, Calif. to expand the municipality’s existing fuel cell power plant to 1.0 megawatt (MW) and increase the amount of green electricity produced at the regional wastewater treatment facility.

With this expansion of its on-site Direct FuelCell(R) (DFC(R)) power plant, Tulare will generate more than 40 percent of the electricity needed to run its water treatment operation. The City of Tulare wastewater treatment facility serves a population of 58,000, processing 12.5 million gallons per day of sewage from domestic households and commercial sources of water discharge, including waste from the region’s seven large dairy-processing enterprises.

The San Joaquin Valley region has a myriad of challenges to improving local air quality because the City of Tulare is growing at more than double the rate of California’s state-wide average. Fuel cells help address air quality concerns because they do not burn fuel, instead processing it electro-chemically to transform it into electricity, with near-zero emissions of NOX, SOX and particulate matter.

Additionally, heat is created in the process, which the system captures and applies to Tulare’s wastewater treatment process. This combined heat and power system can deliver an overall efficiency of up to 90 percent, which results in low CO2 emissions and reduces the wastewater plant’s overall electricity costs.

“The combined heat and power capability of FuelCell Energy’s power plant has been ideal for us,” said Lew Nelson, Tulare’s Director of Public Works. “The fuel cells generate clean electricity and heat that we use in our anaerobic digester, making this system the most efficient and cost-effective for our needs.”

Because these DFC power plants operate on methane, a renewable byproduct of wastewater processing, they eliminate the air pollution that normally would result from releasing the biogas to the atmosphere or flaring it.

“Tulare’s wastewater facility is a perfect application for our products,” said R. Daniel Brdar, Chairman and CEO of FuelCell Energy. “Wastewater facilities produce methane — a gas that is over 20 times more harmful than carbon dioxide. Instead of releasing the methane to the atmosphere or flaring it, wastewater facilities use that gas in our power plants to cleanly and economically produce electricity and heat.”

Tulare’s success in applying this approach to wastewater treatment was honored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency with its Clean Air Excellence Award earlier this year. Under the EPA’s Green Power Partnership program, Tulare was named to the Top 20 List of the agency’s “partners generating and consuming the most green power on-site.”

About FuelCell Energy

FuelCell Energy is the world leader in the development and production of stationary fuel cells for commercial, industrial, municipal and utility customers. FuelCell Energy’s ultra-clean and high efficiency DFC(R) fuel cells are generating power at over 55 locations worldwide. The company’s power plants have generated over 400 million kWh of power using a variety of fuels including renewable wastewater gas, biogas from beer and food processing, as well as natural gas and other hydrocarbon fuels. FuelCell Energy has partnerships with major power plant developers and power companies around the world. The company also receives funding from the U.S. Department of Energy and other government agencies for the development of leading edge technologies such as fuel cells. For more information please visit our website at www.fuelcellenergy.com

Brunnthal/Munich, Germany–A boat equipped with the most powerful EFOY 2200 fuel cell model wins 2nd place of this year’s solo transatlantic yacht race Transat 6,50. The race, in which 85 sailboats up to a length of 6.5 m participated, crossed the Atlantic ocean over a distance of 4,200 nm (7,800 km) in two legs: from Charente Maritime, France, to Madeira, Portugal, and then on from Madeira to Salvador de Bahia, Brasil.

Runner-up at the race was Charlie Dalin on his boat Pogo 2. He completed the second leg of the race as the first participant with a time of 20 days, 6 hours, 36 minutes. His cumulative time which led to 2nd place overall is 27 days, 7 hours, 28 minutes and 10 seconds. Over the complete time of the race the EFOY 2200 fuel cell provided reliable, no-maintenance power to the electrical and electronic devices on board of Pogo 2, keeping Charlie’s hands free for the task of winning second place at the race.

“The EFOY 2200 fuel cell worked perfectly and always under load from the day of installation until today,” said Charlie Dalin. “While other participants of the race lost valuable time due to power failure and their electronics not working I always had trouble free power for my GPS and other devices. I consider this a decisive competitive advantage that definitely helped me being winner of the 2nd place at this important race.” In the 2009 Transat 6,50 around 30 further participants have been using other fuel cells manufactured by SFC Smart Fuel Cell.

EFOY fuel cells are produced by SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG, leading supplier of fuel cell products for mobile and off-grid power applications. The fuel cell series, consisting of five models with a charging capacity of 600 to 2,200 watt hours each per day, depending on the boat’s individual power requirements, is an environmentally friendly, lightweight, and silent power solution for boats and yachts that ensures 24/7 on board power availability in any season and weather.

“We are excited that a yacht equipped with our EFOY 2200 fuel cell is among the winners of this important race,” says Dr. Peter Podesser, CEO of SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG. “The demanding circumstances in which our EFOY 2200 has performed impeccably prove that there finally is a reliable power solution for sailboats. EFOY is a silent, lightweight, emission-free alternative to wind and water generators which often are not reliable and efficient enough, to solar panels which are often in the way and may generate too little power even in sunlight when the sail’s shadow is on them. And to generators which are just too loud, heavy and big for smaller yachts“.

The EFOY fuel cell is directly connected to the board battery and can be installed basically at any convenient place on board with exception of the engine compart-ment. In operation the fuel cell continuously monitors the battery’s state of charge. Once this drops below a predefined level due to power consumption of GPS, lights, navigation, fridge or radio, the EFOY automatically starts operation and recharges the battery. When the battery is full, the fuel cell just as automatically returns into stand-by. The boat owner doesn’t have to do a thing and can still fully enjoy the comforts of the boat without limitations. 230 V devices can be operated by using an inverter.

Fuel for the EFOY is available at over 1,400 sales points across Europe in convenient 5 and 10 liter cartridges. An EFOY M10 cartridge with 10 liter fuel contains 11.1 kilo watt hours of power. That is enough power to independently operate the boat’s electrical consumers for up to 14 days. The convenient cartridges enable boat owners to take along a lot of energy at very low weight on their boat. As long as there are full cartridges, the boat is fully independent of any external power supply. The EFOY fuel cell will also operate in hybrid mode with a solar cell. In this combination it only switches on when the solar cell does not produce enough power. By-products of power generation in the EFOY fuel cell are just water steam and carbon dioxide in amounts equivalent to the breath of a child.

Visitors of Salon Nautique de Paris, France, can experience the EFOY fuel cell live in operation at the booth of Navimo, hall 2.1, B 81, December 5 to 13, 2009.

Visit www.sfc.com and www.efoy.com for more information.

About SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG
SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG (www.sfc.com) is market leader in fuel cell technologies for mobile and off-grid power applications serving the leisure, industrial and defense markets. As one of Germany’s technology pioneers, SFC has won numerous innovation awards. SFC has alliances with leading companies in a wide range of industries. Unlike most other fuel cell manufacturers, who are in the research and development phase or run subsidized demonstration projects, SFC has shipped more than 15,000 fully commercial products to industrial and private end users for more than five years, and has created a convenient fuel cartridge supply infrastructure. SFC is DIN ISO 9001:2008 certified. SFC is based in Brunnthal, Germany, and has a sales and technical service office in the U.S.

Mississauga, Ontario, Canada – Hydrogenics Corporation, a leading developer and manufacturer of hydrogen generation and fuel cell products, today announced that it has delivered another fuel-cell powered Midibus based on the Tecnobus S.p.A electric bus platform for operation at a hospital complex in Hamburg, Germany. This vehicle, the eleventh such Midibus in operation, is owned by Klinik Logistic Eppendorf GmbH, a division of University Klinik Eppendorf. The purchase was coordinated through HySolutions GmbH, a company that promotes the use of fuel cells and hydrogen, and sponsored by the City-State of Hamburg. The project also received support via the National Innovation Program (NIP) of hydrogen and fuel cell technology from the Nationale Organisation Wasserstoff (NOW) and the German Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development.

“The Hydrogenics Midibus continues to gain traction across the continent as local governments come to view it as an appropriate solution for urban, emission-sensitive environments,” said Daryl Wilson, President and CEO. “With eleven such buses now delivered and in use, Hydrogenics has validated its unique fuel cell applications and energy-efficient mobility design with a high degree of reliability, paving the way for future awards. Europe clearly plays a large role in clean transportation solutions, and we are well positioned for further growth there.”

ABOUT HYDROGENICS

Hydrogenics Corporation (www.hydrogenics.com) is a globally recognized developer and provider of hydrogen generation and fuel cell products and services, serving the growing industrial and clean energy markets of today and tomorrow. Based in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, Hydrogenics has operations in North America and Europe.

Pictured above: Dr Henri Winand, Intelligent Energy Chief Executive is presented with £800,000 by Bryan Jackson, Chairman of emda

Moves UK operations to larger premises with grant from the East Midlands Development Agency

Loughborough–Intelligent Energy, the clean power systems company, today announced it has received an £800,000 Grant for Business Investment (GBI) from East Midlands Development Agency (emda), assisting the company in moving from its current premises at the Innovation Centre on Loughborough University campus, to larger premises at Holywell Park, near its current location.

The grant from emda will help Intelligent Energy equip the new facilities with engineering test rigs, measurement equipment and IT systems. Intelligent Energy Chief Executive, Dr. Henri Winand said of the grant, “Intelligent Energy has reached a very exciting stage in its growth.  The move to Holywell Park will allow us to better serve our Blue Chip business customers and partners and up the tempo of our commercial activities significantly as a result.”

2009 has been a year of tremendous progress for Intelligent Energy, with the company continuing to work at the forefront of clean power system commercialisation. The past year has seen Intelligent Energy demonstrate continued success working in partnership with leading companies such as Suzuki Motor Corporation and Scottish & Southern Energy, whilst attracting new customers, such as Airbus.

Amidst the difficult economic circumstances faced by many in 2009, Intelligent Energy raised £18.4 million in a private ‘up round’ of growth capital fundraising in July. The company also announced the appointment of a new Executive Vice President for Emerging Markets as part of its expansion plans.

“We have been very pleased with the growth, commercial progress and technological achievements made by Intelligent Energy in 2009.  This grant from emda is a great endorsement of the company from our own regional development agency,” explained Dr. Winand. “Intelligent Energy is an international business actively working with some of the world’s leading companies to bring its clean power systems to market.  The business started up as a spin-out from Loughborough University and with the help of emda, we are delighted to strengthen our bond with Leicestershire.”

Bryan Jackson, Chairman of emda said: “I am delighted that Intelligent Energy is expanding its operations in the East Midlands. It is an international business working at the leading edge of clean technologies in fast growing energy sectors which we are keen to support. I am pleased that through the GBI we have been able to facilitate the move to Holywell Park to provide them with the space and facilities that they need to develop and grow, creating new jobs in the region and further enhancing the reputation of the East Midlands as a leader in energy technologies.”

AFC Energy (AIM: AFC) has entered into a binding heads of agreement with Linc Energy (ASX: LNC) to integrate the AFC Fuel Cell System for use in Linc Energy’s Underground Coal Gasification projects, to tap into what AFC called a “rapidly emerging” and the largest potential market for power generation from underground coal.

AFC’s Alpha fuel cell system will be installed at Linc’s operating UCG plant in Chinchilla, Australia for demonstration and later install the larger 50 kW (kilowatt) AFC fuel cell system following the development of Alpha. The fuel cell systems will use synthetic hydrogen produced at UCG as their feed source.

Multiple installations of AFC’s 50 kW system for full scale commercialisation are anticipated.

According to the terms of the agreement, Linc will get worldwide exclusive rights to utilise and operate AFC fuel cells in conjunction with any UCG application for a period of 24 months and purchase the first fuel cell system for £200,000 with delivery anticipated in the next five months. Linc also has the option to extend the period of exclusivity for another 24 months by investing £2.3 million in AFC Energy.

AFC will be entitled to an upfront payment calculated on the cost of delivery of fuel cell systems and a royalty based on profits from the use of its fuel cells.

Linc said that the project capital expenditure for power stations using AFC Energy’s low cost fuel cell system is forecast to be less than that of conventional coal/IGCC (integrated gasification combined cycle) power stations.
“Whilst our primary focus remains firmly on the chlor-alkali market, we now have access through B9 Coal to the rapidly emerging market for power generation from underground coal. This opportunity is by far the largest potential market for AFC Energy that we identified and is operational practically anywhere in the world where there are deep coal deposits. The implementation of this programme can create a ‘Holy Grail’ for future coal utilisation with low-cost, highly efficient conversion of coal into power and through the process of CCS it can turn the dirtiest fossil fuel into the cleanest,” said Chief Executive of AFC Ian Balchin.

As the introducer and broker of the transaction, B9 will receive 2% of the net profits from the use of AFC fuel cells.
Shares in AFC rose 7% on the news this morning.