FuelCellsWorks

Project funded by Technology Strategy Board

Cheshire, UK – ACAL Energy Ltd, the developer of affordable and reliable fuel cell systems, is leading a collaborative project to build the world’s first installed system using FlowCath® fuel cell technology in a practical application. The project represents an investment of £1.9 million and has been awarded funding by the Technology Strategy Board. It will see a fully operational demonstration system of a FlowCath® fuel cell unit installed at Solvay Interox’s large industrial site at Warrington, Cheshire, and will be a major step on the commercialisation road map for this innovative technology.

Joining ACAL Energy as partners on the project are: Solvay Interox Ltd, Johnson Matthey Fuel Cells, UPS Systems plc, the Centre for Process Innovation, the University of Southampton and the Manufacturing Engineering Centre at Cardiff University.

ACAL Energy and its partners will develop and operate a suitably sized, low cost FlowCath® fuel cell unit to provide continuous electrical power to a remote environmental monitoring system within the chemical manufacturing plant. The project commenced 1st December 2009, with the build and installation taking place in the second half of 2010. Ultimately, fuel cell systems utilizing FlowCath® will be a clean and economically sensible alternative to diesel and gasoline generators in stationary and transportation applications requiring 1kW to 200kW of electrical power.

ACAL Energy’s FlowCath® technology replaces the platinum catalyst on the cathode in a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell with a low cost, durable liquid chemical. This will significantly reduce the overall platinum content, as much of the platinum in conventional PEM fuel cells is used in the cathode. ACAL Energy has developed a family of proprietary chemical compounds that deliver the same level of fuel cell power density as today’s platinum cathode systems. Further increases in power density are forecast in the future. The technology also significantly reduces the balance of plant costs by eliminating the need for hydration, pressurization, separate cooling and other expensive mechanical sub-systems commonly found in conventional PEM fuel cells.

“Field demonstration of our FlowCath® technology is a very important milestone for the company”, said Dr SB Cha, Chief Executive Officer of ACAL Energy. “This application requires the unit to run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and will be an excellent example of the robustness and reliability of our low cost fuel cell technology. We are delighted to be part of a world-class project team and we are grateful to the UK Technology Strategy Board for their strong support.”

For further information, please contact Amanda Lyne at ACAL Energy:
Tel: +44 (0)1928 511581
E-mail : alyne@acalenergy.co.uk Web: www.acalenergy.co.uk

IdaTech plc (AIM IDA.L), a global leader in the development and manufacture of clean and reliable PEM fuel cell products for critical backup power markets, today provides a trading update for 2009. The Company will announce its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2009 at the end of March 2010.

Trading Update

IdaTech has delivered fuel cell system sales volumes ahead of market expectations, despite the extraordinarily difficult year for businesses globally, increasing the number of units sold by over 5 times the 2008 volume. Overall 445 systems were sold during 2009.

Revenue for the year was $6.6 million (2008 $5.9 million) an increase of circa 12% on 2008 with revenue from product sales almost doubling to $4.5 million from $2.4 million. The sales mix in the year compared with 2008 was more heavily skewed towards direct hydrogen systems which have lower selling prices than reformed systems. This was a result of two factors; the economic downturn resulting in IdaTech’s customers utilising certain Government subsidies which currently favour such direct hydrogen fuelled systems and the sale of 300 ElectraGenTMH2-I systems in India to ACME TelePower the Indian telecommunications supplier. The loss before tax on ordinary activities from continuing operations and the cash burn will also be better than market expectations.

During 2009, IdaTech focused its development resources on the next generation methanol/water fueled system and the natural gas fueled system. Once completed, both systems will demonstrate step changes in performance and in cost reduction, thereby positioning IdaTech to address a significantly increased portion of the critical power backup markets worldwide. As a result of this focus, IdaTech will devote its development effort to the 1-5kW power output product range. A non-cash, impairment charge, of $2.7 million (after tax) in the carrying value of the intangible assets will be recorded reflecting the shift away from the commercial development of the smaller 250 Watt product line. The valuation of the core technology of the business remains intact.

The Company also successfully renegotiated its Supply Contract with ACME TelePower to secure more favorable pricing and product launch timing. ACME TelePower remains a strong partner in the Indian Telecommunications market.

Additionally, the Company completed two development contracts. The most significant related to the advanced development of its proprietary metal membrane hydrogen purification technology, Hypurium™ for large scale industrial applications.

Contract Win

At the end of 2009, the Company received an order for 108 systems for delivery and deployment in the first quarter of 2010. This already positions IdaTech for 2010 with a backlog of nearly one quarter of the 2010 full year market expectations.

Further details of the performance of the business during 2009, the Company’s strategy for achieving sustainable growth and profitability and the outlook for 2010 will be provided in the preliminary results.

HIDDEN detail in the natural world could hold the key to future sources of clean energy. So say materials scientists who have created an artificial leaf that can harness light to split water and generate hydrogen.

Plant leaves have evolved over millions of years to catch the energy in the sun’s rays very efficiently. They use the energy to produce food, and the central step in the process involves splitting water molecules and creating hydrogen ions.

By mimicking the machinery plants use to do this, it is possible to create a miniature hydrogen factory, says Tongxiang Fan of The State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China. “Using sunlight to split water molecules and form hydrogen fuel is one of the most promising tactics for kicking our carbon habit,” he says.

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