AFC gains further EU funding, makes acquisition
18 Dec 2012
London - Industrial fuel cell power company AFC Energy has been awarded a European Union grant of up to Euro1.96 million for project to develop ammonia-fed alkaline fuel cell systems.
The grant will provide AFC and its European partners with three years’ financial support to develop ammonia-fed alkaline fuel cells, under the Alkammonia project, the company said.
The EU grant is being funded by the fuel cells and hydrogen joint undertaking (FCH-JU), through the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme. The grant, which is still subject to negotiation, could enable AFC’s project to commence from March 2013.
AFC Energy will coordinate the project and expects its direct share of the project funding to be up to Euro0.64 million with the balance to be received by the other project partners.
The key to the wide deployment of AFC’s systems will be their ability to be used with many different energy feedstocks. Ammonia is one key feedstock, as has a high energy density and can be converted to hydrogen - which powers AFC Energy’s fuel cells - by heating it in the presence of a catalyst - a process known as “cracking”.
AFC’s alkaline fuel cell system enables the efficient use of the hydrogen liberated by cracking, giving it the potential to be more economic than other fuel cell types. The fuel cells also tolerate ammonia traces in the fuel stream, so that power systems do not require costly clean up processes.
Ammonia-fed alkaline fuel cell systems are also far more efficient than known current diesel alternatives and the only emissions from this process are water and nitrogen. Ammonia fuelled systems are suited for both industrial and small scale back-up and off-grid power solutions.
Alongside the EU grant, AFC also announced its acquisition of certain assets, including equipment and intellectual property, of Diverse Energy Ltd - a supplier of small-scale, ammonia-fed fuel cell systems into the mobile phone mast power market, specifically within Africa.
The deal, combined with the EU grant for the Alkammonia project, will help AFC Energy exploit market opportunities faster, according to CEO Ian Williamson.
“We believe the ammonia tolerance we have will put our fuel cell system in a very favourable position to be more commercial using this feedstock than its competitors,” said Wiliamson.
