FuelCellsWorks

AFC Energy PLC, the developer of low cost alkaline fuel cells, is pleased to announce that it has successfully completed an important field test of its first generation, lower cost, non-platinum electrodes at AkzoNobel’s chlor–alkali plant in Bitterfeld, Germany. During the test AFC Energy’s fuel cell system fed electricity into AkzoNobel’s grid, on a par with previous field tests using platinum based electrodes.

General Update

• Completed field-test of proprietary, lower cost, non-platinum electrodes at AkzoNobel’s Bitterfeld plant – an important step towards full scale operation.
• Application for 4 patents relating to core technology.
• Upgrade to development facility close to completion with faster electrode development and the capability to manufacture up to 1000 electrodes per day on site.
• Strengthening of technical team through the appointment of Dr Richard Dawson (formerly senior engineer at Ceres Power).

Following the installation of the Company’s fuel cell system at AkzoNobel’s Bitterfeld plant in Germany, the Company is pleased to announce that it has completed an important field test of its first generation, lower cost, non-platinum electrodes in its fuel cell system. In addition to generating electricity this field test included exporting electricity to the customer’s on-site grid and automated operation of the fuel cell and remote monitoring of the fuel cell performance was demonstrated.

The Company’s technical team continues to develop innovative solutions that will enable the Company’s fuel cell systems to be manufactured at lower cost and with higher efficiency. The Company has recently filed applications for a further 4 patents as part of the measures to protect its core intellectual property. The Company’s intellectual property strategy centres on protecting developments made to its low cost electrodes.

An upgrade to AFC Energy’s development facility is now close to completion. This upgrade is aimed at reducing the time taken to develop and optimise electrode materials and to enable the Company to rapidly manufacture sufficient electrodes for its initial requirements. The iteration time to prepare new electrode materials, manufacture electrodes, test them, analyse them and review their performance is now a matter of hours rather than days as it was prior to the upgrade. The Company now has the capability to manufacture, depending upon the precise process details, up to 1000 electrodes per day in house.

The next significant phase of development is the continuing improvement to electrode and system performance towards its full design specification. In particular, AFC Energy’s work will be concentrating on further development of its proprietary, low cost, electrodes. In parallel with this work, the upgraded development facility and the recruitment of additional staff has enabled the Company to accelerate development of its large fuel cell system which is designed to work at up to 50 kilowatts (‘50kW System’). The Company now expects the 50kW System to be ready for field trials as early as the first calendar quarter of 2011. This 50 kW System will be the Company’s building block for large scale, multi-megawatt installations.

The Company has made several new appointments to its operational staff principally in support of accelerating development of the 50 kW System. These include a production manager and fuel cell scientist, Dr Richard Dawson who joins the team from Ceres Power where he held the position of Senior Engineer.

With careful cost management AFC Energy has been able to strengthen its team and implement the upgrades to its development facilities without increasing overall running costs. Other than initial quantities, the Company does not intend to assemble fuel cell systems in-house. AFC Energy’s fuel cell systems operate at low temperatures and at close to atmospheric pressure. They can be fabricated from low cost materials and components made using low cost processes. There are considerable economies of scale which can be achieved through contracting out the assembly to third parties and so the Company’s projected capital spend is modest.

In terms of target markets, AFC Energy’s core focus remains on delivering commercially viable fuel cell systems to the chlor-alkali industry for stationary power generation from its surplus hydrogen, which is generated as a by-product. The Company is continuing to target additional markets for the efficient generation of electricity from hydrogen, including the waste to energy market where hydrogen can be liberated from organic waste.

Ian Balchin, AFC Energy’s Managing Director, said:

“This successful testing of our fuel cell system using proprietary, lower cost, electrodes demonstrates that the AFC Energy has taken the next step in the development of a truly low cost, commercially viable, alkali fuel cell system. I wish to extend my thanks to the innovative team from AFC Energy and AkzoNobel that have contributed towards this success.

Our sights are very much set on our 50 kilowatt system which will become the building block for multi-megawatt installations. I particularly welcome the new appointment of fuel cell scientist, Dr Richard Dawson to work on the 50 kilowatt system. With our strengthened team and upgraded development capability, we believe we shall be able to develop our proprietary electrodes faster and at a lower cost than any other company. We now expect to have our 50 kilowatt system available for field trials as early as the first calendar quarter of 2011 and our smaller system to be available during 2010.”

Jadoo Power’s fuel cell system recently powered a Mako Class 2 unmanned aerial vehicle in a successful flight-test by the Office of Navy Research. The Mako flew for more than an hour and consumed 8 grams of compressed hydrogen gas while delivering 63 Watts of power to the avionics, nose camera and video transmitter payload during the flight.  We hope you will take a minute to read the full announcement

Folsom, California– Jadoo Power’s fuel cell system successfully powered the payload and avionics for a Mako unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) recently flight-tested by The Office of Navy Research at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona.

The UAV-100 fuel cell system was designed and built by Jadoo Power using commercially available hardware,  a fuel cell stack and packaging components. Kuchera Engineering developed the plan and integrated the system into the Mako. The Mako flew for more than an hour and consumed 8 grams of compressed hydrogen gas.  The UAV-100 fuel cell system provided 63 Watts of power to the avionics and to the nose camera and video transmitter payload during the entire flight.

Sponsored by The Office of Navy Research (ONR) for NAVAIR, the flight test took place on August 13, 2009. The project, under the guidance of Program Manager Dr. Michael Duncan for customer Dr. Chyau Shen, Deputy Director of the Special Surveillance Program NAVAIR 4.5X, brought together Jadoo Power, Pennsylvania State University’s Applied Research Laboratory and Kuchera Engineering, in a collaborative effort to prove airworthiness of a fuel cell based power system.

The Mako UAV was manufactured by L3 Communications/BAI (Battlefield Air Interdiction) Aerosystems for NAVMAR Applied Science Corporation. The Mako weighs 110 pounds and has a wing span of 12’ 11” and has a proven history of reconnaissance and surveillance flight missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Mako UAV is low cost and is highly respected by U.S. Special Operations Command field personnel.

According to the announcement from the ONR, the flight test successfully demonstrated the airworthiness of the UAV-100 to withstand launch, trajectory accelerations, landing, and the effects of the operational environment.  The fuel cell is forward compatible with advanced hydrogen storage technologies that have the potential to increase payload endurance time by up to 300%. The potential of this payload duration improvement has profound implications for increasing the payload capability of Class 2 UAVs.  In addition, this fuel cell technology is scalable to any UAV platform.

About Jadoo Power
Jadoo Power is an industry leader in fuel cell technology and hybrid alternative power systems. Founded in 2001, Jadoo Power is grounded in technical expertise, product development and strategic partnerships. They deliver best-in-class hybrid fuel cell power solutions to commercial, business and military applications. Jadoo Power’s industry strengths go far beyond fuel cell design. They continue to lead the market in balance of plant technology, hold patents in water regulation, and stack design and continue their advancements in better fuels, storage and fuel delivery, a critical component of the hydrogen economy.

For more information about Jadoo Power, please visit our website at http://www.jadoopower.com/

This photo shows the Ion Tiger in flight. The 550-watt fuel cell is show in the box in the lower left corner. Photo Credit: Naval Research Laboratory

The Naval Research Laboratory’s (NRL’s) Ion Tiger, a hydrogen-powered fuel cell unmanned air vehicle (UAV), has flown 23 hours and 17 minutes, setting an unofficial flight endurance record for a fuel-cell powered flight. The test flight took place on October 9th through 10th at Aberdeen Proving Ground. The Ion Tiger fuel cell development system team is led by NRL and includes Protonex Technology Corporation, the University of Hawaii, and HyperComp Engineering. The program is sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR).

The electric fuel cell propulsion system onboard the Ion Tiger has the low noise and signature of a battery-powered UAV, while taking advantage of hydrogen, a high-energy fuel. Fuel cells create an electrical current when they convert hydrogen and oxygen into water, with only water and heat as byproducts. The 550-Watt (0.75 horsepower) fuel cell onboard the Ion Tiger has about 4 times the efficiency of a comparable internal combustion engine and the system provides 7 times the energy in the equivalent weight of batteries. The Ion Tiger weighs approximately 37 pounds and carries a 4 to 5 pound payload.

Small UAVs are growing in importance for naval missions, as they provide capabilities ranging from surveillance collection to communication links. Electric UAVs have the additional feature of being nearly undetectable from the ground. Due to the high energy in the fuel cell system onboard the Ion Tiger, it is now possible to do long endurance missions with an electric UAV, thus allowing a larger cruise range and reducing the number of daily launches and landings. This provides more capability while saving time and effort for the crew.

In 2005, NRL backed initial research in fuel cell technologies for UAVs. Today, says NRL’s Karen Swider-Lyons, “the long endurance flight was made possible by the team’s research on high power, efficient fuel cell systems, lightweight hydrogen-gas storage tanks, improved thermal management, and the effective integration of these systems.”

Fuel cell technology is being developed to impact the operational spectrum of technologies including ground, air and undersea vehicles and man-portable power for Marine expeditionary missions. “The Ion Tiger successfully demonstrates ONR’s vision to show how efficient, clean technology can be used to improve the warfighter’s capabilities,” comments ONR’s Michele Anderson.

Triple first for Air Products in Europe: Convenient, cost effective and sustainably-sourced hydrogen infrastructure becomes a reality

Wilhelm Sassenberg, Air Products, explains the hydrogen fuelling station model series 100.

Air Products will install and operate the first ever 24-hour self service hydrogen fuelling station in Hürth, Germany. The station, based at the Infraserv-Knapsack Chemical Park, will be in regular operation by March 2010, when it will initially supply hydrogen to two buses run by the local council.

The station will allow bus drivers to refuel their vehicles around the clock and for future use, Air Products will design and incorporate the safety systems to allow it to be used more broadly for hydrogen vehicles, 24 hours a day.

“Our ultimate objective is to make filling up with hydrogen as normal for users as filling up with diesel, petrol or natural gas anywhere else” explains Ian Williamson, Hydrogen Energy Systems Director Air Products Europe.

The project also represents a first step towards using hydrogen from the chemical industry as a fuel for vehicles. The region offers ideal conditions for developing hydrogen infrastructure as seven local industrial plants produce hydrogen as a by-product Just 8% of the hydrogen by-product generated by the industrial plants could operate more than 500 buses or 40,000 cars full time. The Hürth station has been designed as an innovative modular fuelling system which marks a significant step change that Air Products has taken towards rolling out a hydrogen infrastructure.

Ian Williamson explains: “Until now hydrogen fuelling stations have been unique, custom-made installations which have a high price. We aim, where appropriate, to commence cost-effective series production across all our markets on the basis of the Hürth fuelling system and thereby eliminate one of the main obstacles to a universal roll out of hydrogen infrastructure.” Crucially, the modular fuelling system means that it is now possible to supply fuelling stations with hydrogen not only from a tanker, but also, at a later date, by pipeline.

Air Products is now looking to introduce this technology to the UK. Diana Raine, Hydrogen Energy Systems Sales Manager, Air Products added: “This is an extremely exciting development for Air Products. We are now looking to work with several local authorities in the UK who would like to take advantage of this modular technology. The Hürth project is a glimpse of what we can help councils to achieve here if they are willing to make the investment.”

Air Products is the world’s largest supplier of hydrogen and a leader in applications in the fields of hydrogen production, supply and safety. Air Products has played a leading role in the development of hydrogen as an alternative fuel of the future. This is documented, among other things, by more than 50 patents in the field of hydrogen fuelling technology. The company provides the necessary technology and infrastructure for the hydrogen fuelling of cars, buses, trucks, forklift trucks, aircraft, trains, cell towers and even submarines. Its references include the hydrogen fuelling stations for the bus shuttle service at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the fuelling technology for five fuel cell buses used by Transport for London, supplying the entire hydrogen needs of the German navy’s fuel cell submarines and the largest number of hydrogen fuelling stations in the UK.

Air Products has experience of more than 100 hydrogen fuelling stations in 14 countries. More than 120,000 safe fuellings a year are currently completed at the company’s fuelling stations – and this figure is increasing rapidly.

BOTHELL, Wash. – Neah Power Systems, Inc. (OTCBB:NPWZ) www.neahpower.com, the Company developing fuel cell-based renewable energy solutions, stated today that it has completed the development of a silicon-based direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) for the Office of Naval Research (ONR). Neah has provided ONR deliverables of a system that could serve as a building block for low power (1-200W) military, industrial, and consumer applications. The fuel cell operates using a liquid methanol fuel source and a liquid oxidant, which uniquely allows the fuel cell to operate in an environment with low quality or no air.

“The two awards from the ONR have helped Neah develop, scale-up and implement a manufacturing chain for this differentiated product, and has helped us transition from concept to product readiness. We are thankful to the ONR for its support to Neah Power Systems, enabling us to provide our solution to potential military, industrial and consumer markets,” said Dr. Chris D’Couto, President and CEO.

Potential applications that require portable power in low-quality or non air-breathing environments include surface water and underwater vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles, remote sensing applications such as cell phone towers and deep sea or surface monitoring stations, etc. Other mainstream applications that can be served by air breathing or non-air breathing fuel cells include industrial applications and a wide variety of consumer markets.

About Neah Power

Neah Power Systems, Inc. (NPWZ) is developing long-lasting, efficient and safe power solutions for the military, industrial and consumer electronic devices. Neah uses a unique, patented, silicon-based design for its micro fuel cells that enable higher power densities, lower cost and compact form-factors. The company’s micro fuel cell system can run in aerobic and anaerobic modes, and is developing energy storage solutions based on its proprietary porous silicon technology.

Further company information can be found at www.neahpower.com.

LATHAM, N.Y. — Plug Power Inc. (Nasdaq:PLUG), a leader in providing clean, reliable energy solutions, announced its strategy for achieving profitability during its analyst and investor meeting held on Thursday, October 8, 2009. By executing its strategy, Plug Power plans to be profitable by 2012, generating a positive cash flow for the first time in the Company’s history. Presentations made by Plug Power management, including Andy Marsh, CEO, and Gerry Anderson, CFO, can be accessed by going directly to the Plug Power Web site at www.plugpower.com and selecting the Web cast link on the home page.

Plug Power will focus resources on its two commercial products, GenDrive(TM), a superior alternative to lead-acid batteries in the material handling market, and GenSys(R), a continuous-run prime power system that replaces diesel generators at remote telecommunication sites where the grid is non-existent or unreliable.

Highlights from the Company’s presentation include plans to double shipments of their products each year from 2010 to 2012, equating to approximately 7,200 to 9,400 shipments at the end of 3 years. In turn, revenue is expected to double annually over the same period. Plug Power intends to generate approximately equal revenue between its GenDrive and GenSys product families.

In order to reach profitability, Plug Power will continue to drive down product costs by leveraging the supply chain, lowering manufacturing costs and improving system reliability for both product lines. Key success factors include product expansion, starting with the release of the class-2 stand-up reach truck product for electric lift trucks in the fourth quarter of 2009.

“Plug Power has established a strategy to bring the Company to profitability,” said Plug Power’s CEO, Andy Marsh. “We have surveyed what it will take to sustain Plug Power into the future and have developed a thoughtful plan to engender success.”

Plug Power’s analyst and investor day attracted key speakers to help illustrate their support for Plug Power and confidence in the Company’s products. Presenters represented partners, customers, suppliers and government agencies, including:

 * The Raymond Corporation
 * Sysco
 * Linde, Inc.
 * Bridgestone/Firestone
 * Strata-gems Consulting
 * US Department of Energy
 * and, 3M Research and Development

Strong support was shown for Plug Power’s GenDrive product for the material handing market: “We are very excited about our partnership with Plug Power and we take this relationship very seriously,” said Chuck Pascarelli, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the Raymond Corporation. “I think we are pioneering the right stuff and I think it’s important. And, by the way, the industry is ready for this revolutionary technology. It’s absolutely ready for it.”

“Sysco nationally utilizes 10,000 pallet trucks, forklifts and dock equipment,” said Scott Kliever, Chief Financial Officer of Sysco Houston. “We anticipate great opportunity after seeing fuel cells in operation. The expected cost savings and return on investment multiplied across the national fleet could have a positive impact on our operational expenses.”

“The work that we’re doing with Plug Power leverages a lot of our core competencies,” said Earl Lawson, Vice President of Commercial Development for Linde, Inc. “We think the solutions that Plug Power has developed and the solutions that Linde has been developing really provide a viable technology and overall system solution for the customer.”

“We get a constant voltage and the costs of forklift damage have gone way down,” said Mitch Mussetter, Engineering Team Leader for Bridgestone/Firestone in Aiken County, South Carolina. “The intangible benefits of fuel cells include environmental factors such as no lead and no acid. There are also productivity gains because operators only need to fuel once per shift. Our operators are doing what they are supposed to do instead of charging batteries.”

Plug Power’s GenSys product for the prime power market was also touted: Dr. Eric Funkenbusch, Program Director at 3M spoke about the durability of the proprietary 3M MEA (membrane electrode assembly) used by Plug Power in their fuel cell stacks. This MEA is a core component to Plug Power’s stack used in the GenSys product. An automated manufacturing process will provide the consistency and reliability needed to deliver a cost-effective quality product.

Sunita Satyapal, Acting Program Manager of the Department of Energy’s Fuel Cell Technologies program, noted that the 3M MEA performance is exceeding the DOE targets. The DOE’s market transformation activities for the fuel cell industry are intended to accelerate cost reductions and promote consumer acceptance for these alternative energy solutions.

“Our relationships with industry-leading companies, such as those who joined us for our analyst and investor meeting, are vital to the growth of our business,” said Andy Marsh. “Plug Power values the partnerships in place and is grateful for the innumerable hours they provide to support our market expansion. We look forward to the widespread commercialization of our fuel cell solutions in the future.”

About Plug Power Inc.

Plug Power Inc. (Nasdaq:PLUG), an established leader in the development and deployment of clean, reliable energy solutions, integrates fuel cell technology into motive and continuous power products. The Company is actively engaged with private and public customers in targeted markets throughout the world. For more information about how to join Plug Power’s energy revolution as an investor, customer, supplier or strategic partner, please visit www.plugpower.com.