News

June 18, 2007

Ceramic Fuel Cells Is Moving Along The Commercialisation Route

By Rue Swabey

Australia-based Ceramic Fuel Cells (CFCL) has achieved a significant amount since its IPO on AIM in March 2006. It is working to commercialise its fuel cell technology on a large scale. CFCL’s micro combined heat and power (m-CHP) unit generates constant electric power while producing hot air and water from the waste heat. Fuel cell technology produces low emission electricity as it is generated by chemical reactions rather than combustion. CFCL has acquired a site to build a manufacturing facility in Germany and it has signed two product development agreements with European utility companies. These agreements validate CFCL’s technology and underscore the growing confidence in the company.

CFCL’s business model is to sell to the utility companies rather than the end user. This approach is logical as the technology is new and the utility companies are better equipped to market it and install it. In addition the utilities have the balance sheets to roll out large volumes to their existing customer bases quickly. However the real pull factor is that m-CHP technology is highly attractive to the utility companies. This is because on-site generation reduces dependency on the grid and...