TIDMCFU
RNS Number : 7758N
03 October 2012
Wednesday 3 October 2012
Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited (AIM / ASX: CFU) a leading developer of
generators which use fuel cell technology to convert natural gas
into electricity and heat for homes and other buildings, is pleased to
announce that 25 of its BlueGen gas-to-electricity units are being used to
power Germany's first commercial, virtual fuel cell power plant.
into electricity and heat for homes and other buildings, is pleased to
announce that 25 of its BlueGen gas-to-electricity units are being used to
power Germany's first commercial, virtual fuel cell power plant.
The virtual power plant was officially opened yesterday by Mr Peter
Altmaier, Germany's Federal Minister for the Environment, Mr Johannes Remmel,
Minister for the Environment in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, together
with Mr Bernd Wilmert, Chairman of the Board of the municipal utility network
Trianel, and Sven Becker, CEO of Trianel.
A virtual power plant is a cluster of distributed electricity generation
units, controlled and operated by a central entity using integrated software
systems. A virtual power plant allows power generation to be modulated up or
down to meet peak loads and balance intermittent power from wind or solar, with
higher efficiency and more flexibility than large centralised power stations.
Producing energy where it is needed eases the burden on electricity
distribution networks and prevents distribution losses, which can amount to as
much as 10 percent from large power plants using conventional generation
methods.
The Trianel network will offer BlueGen units to end customers as part of
its EnergieBlock(R) micro combined heat and power offering.
During the opening ceremony at the Eurogress congress centre in Aachen,
Mr Altmaier declared that distributed electricity generation and energy efficiency,
along with a coordinated expansion of renewable energies and electricity grids
on a national level, are central elements of the electricity market of
tomorrow: "Virtual power plant networks are progressive milestones on the
way to a successful energy reform," Altmaier said.
,
along with a coordinated expansion of renewable energies and electricity grids
on a national level, are central elements of the electricity market of
tomorrow: "Virtual power plant networks are progressive milestones on the
way to a successful energy reform," Altmaier said.
The virtual power plant connects 25 BlueGen units, which convert natural
gas into electricity and heat with the world's highest electrical efficiency.
Ceramic Fuel Cells and its local distributor sanevo blue energy, based
outside Frankfurt, have delivered the 25 BlueGen units to Trianel. So far 15
municipal utilities in Germany as well as the Energie Kompetenz Zentrum
Rhein-Erft-Kreis GmbH are involved in the project. The municipal utilities are
installing the BlueGen units in their customer centres and with selected
customers. There are also plans to roll out the BlueGen units to end customers
in apartment buildings and commercial properties.
Mr Remmel, North Rhine-Westphalia's Minister for the Environment, has
praised the municipal utilities' commitment to working on innovative solutions
for developing efficient and environmentally friendly energy generation.
"North Rhine-Westphalia is the state for energies of the future and needs
more utilities of the future for an accelerated energy transition. Combined
heat and power [CHP] should play an important role in our federal state.
Therefore, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia is planning a support programme
for CHP of 250 million Euros. Our goal is to increase the CHP share of
electricity generation to more than 25 percent," Remmel said in his speech
at the event.
Trianel is the leading municipal utility network in Germany and Europe,
with more than 50 local utilities as members and serving more than 5 million
customers in Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland.
Trianel began the mini and micro CHP project back in December 2011. This
led to the mini and micro CHP network, in which there are currently 40
municipal utilities. Their goal is to establish highly efficient mini and micro
CHPs on the market under the name EnergieBlock(R).
"With this project, the municipal utilities are once again proving
their innovative strength in deciding the path that the energy reform will
take," commented Sven Becker, CEO of Trianel. "With their proximity
to customers and excellent knowledge of the market, generating electricity
where it will be used is a promising field of activity for regional energy
suppliers."
"This project shows us the energy generation of the future:
decentralised, environmentally friendly and highly efficient. BlueGen will
allow CO2 emissions to be reduced by 50 percent. That means a vital part of
increasing energy efficiency is already in place," said Frank Obernitz,
CEO of Ceramic Fuel Cells GmbH.
Ceramic Fuel Cells' BlueGen
units are also being used to power a virtual power plant project in The
Netherlands with energy network
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