Horsham, UK–Ceres Power Holdings plc (“Ceres”, the “Company”) (AIM:CWR), a global leader in fuel cell and electrochemical technology, is pleased to announce that it has signed a joint development and equity agreements with RFC Power limited (“RFC”), a long-duration energy storage company.
RFC is an early stage company that has a strategy to develop the world’s lowest cost flow battery – a hybrid between a fuel cell and a battery that decouples power from energy. It is a unique and novel technology, which was spun out of Imperial College London in 2017, with a patented hydrogen manganese chemistry promising low cost, high round-trip efficiency and an extremely long cycle-life.
Long-duration energy storage technologies, such as hydrogen and flow-batteries, have an important role to play in decarbonising the energy system towards a net zero future. Ceres has been in discussions with the RFC team for some time and Mark Selby, Chief Innovation Officer of Ceres, will now join RFC’s Board. He will leverage Ceres’ expertise and experience in licensing technology to support the commercialisation of RFC’s intellectual property.
Mark also represented Ceres in Glasgow this week for the official launch of the Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES) Council. Formed of 24 founder members including energy tech, end-user and investor organisations, the LDES Council is targeting ~10% of all energy being stored in greater than eight-hour storage technologies, requiring 85-140TWh of deployed capacity, to achieve grid net-zero by 2040.
Phil Caldwell, Chief Executive Officer of Ceres: As a licensing business committed to delivering clean energy for a net zero future, it is imperative that alongside delivering our fuel cell and hydrogen electrolysis business, we continue to drive innovation to create future value, both through investment in our own technology and partnering in new areas such as energy storage, which are aligned with our purpose.”
Tim von Werne, CEO of RFC Power said: “Energy storage is a critical component of the transition to a low carbon energy system. This partnership with Ceres Power will accelerate RFC’s technology development and enable us to bring our long duration energy storage technology to market at the pace required to meet this global demand. We are delighted to welcome Mark Selby to our Board as we start this next phase of our commercial progress.”
The joint development agreement will aim to improve and accelerate RFC’s technology through the use of Ceres’ capabilities in electrochemistry and device engineering. In exchange for the work done, Ceres will receive an 8.4% shareholding in RFC. Ceres has the opportunity to assess RFC’s technology in this period and if the technology proves compatible to Ceres’ strategy, Ceres has a 12 month option to acquire the balance of the outstanding share capital in the company for up to £25 million. This comprises a 50% initial payment on exercise and a 50% deferred payment based on commercial success, both payable in Ceres shares.
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