FuelCellsWorks

Jülich– Ten thousand hours in operation: Scientists from Forschungszentrum Jülich set up this record with a hybrid system based on direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). The fuel cell stack – a block composed of 88 fuel cells – in this project funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) is designed for use in an order picker, a type of electric forklift truck

AFC Energy (AIM: AFC), the leading developer of low-cost alkaline fuel cells, is pleased to announce that the inaugural consortium meeting of project LASER-CELL recently took place at the Company’s Dunsfold headquarters.

Project LASER-CELL will develop innovative high-volume production technologies which can be used to manufacture alkaline fuel cell components, and will include comprehensive life-cycle and market analysis. The project will run in parallel with the Company’s current development programme.

AFC Energy leads the consortium that was awarded a grant of €1.4 million towards the €2.9 million research and development project. The project is funded by the European Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) through the European Union’s 7^th Framework Programme (FP7).

The project will exploit the expertise and resources of all the partners. Work will be carried out at the premises of each partner and will be coordinated and managed by AFC Energy.

Ian Williamson, CEO of AFC Energy plc, commented: “The award of this significant R&D grant from the European Union demonstrates the EU’s commitment and endorsement of our technology. We were delighted to personally welcome our partners, whose impressive expertise will be key to the success of project LASER-CELL.”

The consortium comprises the following organisations: