Ceramic Fuel Cells' BlueGen gas-to-electricity technology wins Microgeneration UK 2011 Technical InnovationAward Thursday 23 June 2011

Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited

23 June 2011

Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited, [AIM/ASX:CFU] a leading developer of high efficiency and low emission electricity generation units for homes and other buildings, today announced its BlueGen gas-to-electricity unit has won the Microgeneration UK 2011 Technical Innovation Award, announced at the culmination of the Microgeneration UK 2011 conference in London.

Microgeneration UK 2011 - which brings together policymakers, investors, suppliers and customers - celebrates the best of the UK microgeneration industry. It is run by Micropower Council, the British Photovoltaic Association and the British Heating and Hot Water Industry Council.

The Technical Innovation Award, one of five categories, was announced at a gala dinner on Tuesday 21 June in London and was presented by Baroness Maddock of Christchurch, President of the Micropower Council.

Baroness Maddock said: "CFCL is playing a key role in pioneering technology that can help provide a source of cleaner, more efficient, low cost energy. Currently collaborating with multiple partners across the globe to help bring cleaner electricity, CFCL is a great example of how innovation within the microgeneration sector can deliver tangible benefits."

Brendan Dow, Managing Director of Ceramic Fuel Cells, said: "We are thrilled to accept this prestigious award, and are delighted that our ground-breaking technology has been recognised by Microgeneration UK 2011. More and more Ceramic Fuel Cells is being recognised as a world leader in the development of fuel cell technology to provide reliable, low-emission electricity from widely available natural gas."

In May 2011, BlueGen won both the 2010-11 'CEO Award' - Dupont Australia and New Zealand's most prestigious innovation award - as well as the 'Design for a Sustainable Future' award, one of seven categories at the biennial DuPont Australia & New Zealand Innovation Awards.

BlueGen uses ceramic fuel cells to turn natural gas into electricity and heat for hot water, with each unit capable of producing more than three times the electricity needed to power the average United Kingdom home. Surplus electricity can be exported back to the power grid. BlueGen also provides heat for domestic hot water use. BlueGen units operate constantly, generating 1.5 kilowatts of electricity plus heat for hot water, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, regardless of weather.

BlueGen has the highest electrical efficiency of any small-scale power generation system in the world, reducingenergy bills as well as making significant carbon savings.

For further information please contact:

     Ceramic Fuel Cells     Andrew Neilson                      Tel: +613 9554 2300                                         Email: investor@cfcl.com.au       Nomura Code Securities (AIM         Tel: +44 (0) 207 776      Nomad)                              1200     Juliet Thompson, Chris Golden 

BlueGen to participate in the UK's largest Smart Grid project 06 May 2011

Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited

06 May 2011

03 May 2011

BlueGen to participate in the UK's largest Smart Grid project

Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited (CFCL) today announced that BlueGen is to participate in CE Electric UK's GBP54 million low-carbon Smart Grid project. Durham University is one of the four partners involved with the project.

CFCL's BlueGen microgeneration heat and power unit will be housed in the Durham Energy Institute research laboratory. BlueGen will run alongside other low-carbon electricity generating technologies and will, via the project, help shape the future for a low-emission, more efficient power grid across the UK.

It is estimated that improvements to the power grid that result from the project could potentially save homes and businesses across the UK around GBP8 billion* in energy costs and 43 million tonnes* of CO(2) emissions. * Source Durham University, 10 October 2010.

The Smart Grid project involves 14,000 homes and businesses and will assess the impact of technologies such as micro combined heat and power units on the electricity grid and lay the foundations for helping electricity consumers to reduce their carbon footprint, cut energy use and save money.

BlueGen converts natural gas into electricity far more efficiently and with lower emissions than the current power grid, providing significant cost and carbon savings.

BlueGen generates electricity that can be used within the home, with the surplus fed back into the National Grid or used in supplementary applications such as charging an electric car, and has the additional benefit of providing heat for domestic hot water use.

The installation of BlueGen will not only prove the benefits of micro cogeneration but will also help Durham University highlight its leading position in the move towards a low carbon economy.

Commenting on the announcement, Paddy Thompson, General Manager Business Development, CFCL said:

"The integration of BlueGen into the Smart Grid project will prove that the technology needed to create a low-emission, highly efficient power grid for the future exists today, and its use is a significant step towards achieving far-reaching cost and environmental benefits for the UK.

"BlueGen has the potential to play a significant role in the low-carbon Smart Grid, and we are delighted that its installation at the Durham Energy Institute is recognition of this potential."

Professor Phil Taylor, Durham Energy Institute, Durham University added:

"We are excited about the opportunity of researching how BlueGen can work alongside other technologies and are grateful to One North East for their support. We fully intend to use BlueGen as part of our low carbon network project."

For further information:

Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited

Paddy Thompson

General Manager Business Development +44 7968 356 439

Mark Way +44 7786 116991

Corporate Communications

Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited show the Bluegen MCHP at the Ecobuild show London 1-3 March 2011

Ceramic fuel cells limited Bluegen unit was being displayed at the Ecobuild show March 3, 2011 on the E.ON stand. The unit was placed on the side of the stand and was getting interest. The Bluegen had the side and back covers removed so the internals could be seen. E.ON’s stand was in the renewable section of the Ecobuild show which had mainly solar and air source heat pump stands. Paddy was one of the Ceramic fuel cells limited sales staff on the stand and answered most of my questions regarding the Bluegen and E.ON’s adaptation MCHP unit which uses the Gennex fuel stack as its core. E.ON has yet to name their Gennex MCHP adaptation and a release date has not been finalized. Due to this, there is no marketing/advertising program in place. It was interesting why E.ON was displaying the Bluegen as they are not directly marketing it, maybe to gauge interest.



















Ceramic fuel cells rely on their partners such as E.ON, EWE, GDF etc to market the product so at the moment it is a waiting game for them until Bluegen and Gennex MCHP adaptations come to market. As far as they are concerned the Bluegen is a fully tested unit ready for sale to the mass market which is their main target, they want to take the Bluegen / Gennex product global. This is the same case when it comes to the price. There is no price tag on the unit. It will be their partners who will fix their price and whether it is leased to their clients. There is also the service maintenance cost to include. The unit requires a service every 12 months which consists of changing water intake filters and gas intake filters. The Gennex fuel cell module has a life span of 5 years and will require replacing around that time. This is why it may be better to lease the units as this can be included in the lease plan if leasing will be available. Ceramic fuel cells say these units are not for the DIY’er and must be installed and serviced by qualified trained staff.

There maybe some subsidies for the Bluegen and its adaptation. Germany is toying with the idea of adding it to their renewable subsidies but this is not in stone. There is a $1 Bln fund in Germany and with EWE currently testing the unit it is the belief of the Ceramic fuel cells sales staff that Bluegen will eventually get accredited for this. As for shareholders of the company getting a discount they had no comment.

The Gennex fuel stack is the heart of the unit and other adaptations. The system cannot be scaled down (only up) so there is no possibility of a Micro-Micro CHP portable unit. There are other competitors out there including the Whispergen which is not a Ceramic fuel cells limited product. This is mainly for heating and uses a sterling engine to produce power from the exhaust heat. This according to Ceramic fuel cells limited will mean that for 6 months of the year the unit will not produce much power to sell back to the grid where Bluegen is mainly geared to power generation. The Bluegen has the advantage as it can easily be configured to use other hydrocarbon gases such as shell gas, hydrogen, methane, bio gas etc.

The Bluegen product is ready, all Ceramic Fuel Cells need to do is sell it to the masses. It is cutting edge technology that can only get better with time. There are no plans for Ceramic fuel cells limited to use the Gennex technology for other applications other than MCHP units. There is also the installation and maintenance training that will be required by their partners, which is what some of them are doing now. With E.ON needing to order 100000 units, between 2012 to 2018 to keep exclusivity it is up to them to get a foothold in the UK market not Ceramic fuel cells limited.


Photo: E.ON stand © Sean Orion
Composed @ EcoBuild London © Sean Orion 2011

Ceramic Fuel Cells (CFCL) extend microgeneration collaboration

02 February 2009 12:12
E.ON and

Ceramic Fuel Cells (Europe) Limited, a subsidiary of Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited (ASX / AIM: CFU), a global leader in fuel cell development, and E.ON, have extended their exclusive agreement to further develop and deploy fuel cell micro combined heat and power (mCHP) units in Great Britain .
Under the terms of the new agreement, E.ON and CFCL will collaborate on a joint development project to commercialise mCHP units designed specifically for the Great Britain market, based on CFCL's GENNEX fuel cell module. The commercialisation project is currently scheduled to run from 2009 to 2012 in a number of stages subject to performance criteria, with the Great Britain market launch expected to follow thereafter.

Subject to CFCL's achievement of agreed price and performance targets, E.ON and CFCL have agreed a potential future order profile, which would secure 'E.ON's exclusive distribution rights for CFCL micro CHP units within Great Britain. A minimum order of 100,000 units over six years from 2012 would be required for E.ON to continue to retain exclusivity.

Charles Bradshaw-Smith, Head of Innovation at E.ON, said:

"The agreement with CFCL reflects two years' hard work to achieve a unit with a technical performance that has met all our targets. We are now pleased to commit funding and resources, subject to the attainment of agreed milestones, to roll out a commercial unit, building on CFCL's market-leading technology. This technology signals that cleaner, more cost-effective energy in the UK home is closer than ever before."

Commenting, Brendan Dow, Managing Director of Ceramic Fuel Cells, said:

"We are delighted that E.ON, one of the leading energy companies in Europe, has chosen to extend their agreement with CFCL. This is a key endorsement and represents significant progress. This provides us with additional funding to develop commercial products, as well as strong support for future market launch and development. This reinforces CFCL as the market leader in solid oxide fuel cells with a clear path to commercialisation. CFCL continues to work with utility partners across Europe to roll out commercial units to all their customers."

CFCL and E.ON expect that the highly efficient new mCHP units would be able to power a wide range of homes and help to reduce carbon emissions in Great Britain.

This agreement follows the successful completion of the first phase of the partners' product development, in which an ‘Alpha' prototype unit, comprising a CFCL NetGenPlus unit integrated with a supplementary boiler, was installed and operated.

The Alpha unit successfully met all of E.ON's performance and lifetime requirements, exporting just under 1kW of power to the local UK grid at high efficiency and generating enough heat for an average UK home's hot water needs. The unit was installed in June 2008 and has been continuously running (on the same fuel cell stack) at the Blackpool facilities of CFCL's appliance partner ever since.

BACKGROUND TO UK MARKET

The UK Government is strongly supportive of microgeneration. Energy industry leaders and Government Ministers have agreed that CHP must play a more prominent role in the United Kingdom's transition to a low-carbon economy. The Energy Act 2008 will introduce a Feed-in-Tariff for small-scale, low-carbon electricity production including conventional gas-fired CHP units with an electrical capacity of 5MW or less.

The UK has the largest boiler market in the EU with 1.6 million gas boilers sold in the UK each year. (Source: BSRIA October 2008)

The UK renewable obligation will be £1 billion by 2010 and by 2016 all new UK homes should be zero or low carbon. There are currently about 100,000 microgeneration installations in the UK, up from 82,000 in 2004. If no additional policies are implemented, about 500,000 microgeneration units would be installed by 2015 and 2-3 million by 2020. But, with the right incentives, up to 9 million microgeneration systems could be installed by 2020, producing as much energy as 5 nuclear power stations (Source: BERR Report June 2008)