FUEL CELL POWER Generating Electricity, Heat and Hydrogen, Cleanly ,Quietly and Efficiently
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No. 56 SUMMER 2015 www.fuelcellpower.org.uk FUEL CELL POWER Generating electricity, heat and hydrogen, cleanly ,quietly and efficiently HEADLINE NEWS CONTENTS Following upon higher than expected sales in Toyota enables free use of patents p.2 Japan, production of the Toyota Mirai is being Intelligent Energy welcomes motor increased, ready for the launches in Europe industry moving towards fuel cells p.3 and the USA this year. Sales plans are being Bloom Energy fuel cells for global formulated taking into consideration each interconnection and data p.6 region’s level of hydrogen infrastructure, en- Delivering Hydrogen and Fuel Cells ergy policies, consumer demand, purchasing to market p.8 subsidies and environmental regulations. Doosan meeting business demands for sustainable, flexible electricity p.14 Honda has announced commercial produc- Global Apollo programme tackling tion of its fuel cell vehicles in the USA in 2016. climate change p.16 Their plan is to offer sales of battery, fuel cell ITM Power installing UK hydrogen and hybrid powered systems, in order to refuelling stations p.18 achieve volume markets for the introduction Fuel cells cut water demand p.25 of electric vehicles. FuelCell Energy proposed 63 MW Hyundai is extending sales of its hydrogen fuel Fuel cell park at Beacon Falls p.26 cell production vehicle from Korea and the Clean power from wastewater p.27 USA. Six of their Hyundai ix35 models are to be NEWS p.15, p.20, p.28 operated in London. EVENTS p.28 TOYOTA OPENS ITS FUEL CELL VEHICLE PATENTS FOR FREE USE As part of efforts to popularize fuel cell vehi- and fuel cell system control technology cles (FCVs), Toyota Motor Corporation will (approx. 3,350 patent licenses). allow royalty-free use of approximately 5,680 of the FCV-related patent licenses, including To facilitate more rapid expansion of hydro- pending applications, it holds globally on an gen station networks, Toyota will also provide unconsolidated basis. royalty-free use of approximately 70 hydro- gen-station-related patent licenses Toyota believes it is important to give priority indefinitely for those installing and operating to spurring more widespread use of FCVs at hydrogen stations. Toyota plans to make the the initial introduction stage. It therefore be- royalty-free patent licenses available for use lieves that concerted initiatives will be vital by companies and organizations that con- with energy companies that are looking to clude contracts with Toyota based on nego- expand hydrogen station infrastructure, and tiations with the company concerning spe- automobile manufacturers that are looking cific usage plans, in line with standard patent to move forward with FCV development and license procedures. market introduction. Toyota has always had an open policy re- Toyota will allow royalty-free use of its FCV garding use of its intellectual property, allow- patent licenses by those manufacturing and ing licensing of patents by third parties that selling FCVs through the initial market intro- pay appropriate usage fees. By allowing roy- duction period, which is anticipated to con- alty-free use of FCV-related patent licenses, tinue until about 2020. This initiative will in- Toyota is going one step further as it aims to clude patents that are critical to the devel- promote the widespread use of FCVs and opment and production of FCVs, such as actively contribute to the realization of a those relating to fuel cell stacks (approx. hydrogen-based society. 1,970 patent licenses), high-pressure hydro- www.toyota-global.com gen tanks (approx. 290 patent licenses), JOINT ACTION ON HYDROGEN STATIONS Toyota Motor Corporation, Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., and Honda Motor Co. Ltd. have agreed a new joint support project for the develop- ment of hydrogen station infrastruc- ture in Japan. The three auto- makers have agreed to help infra- structure companies deliver the best possible customer service and create a convenient, hassle-free refuelling network for owners of fuel cell vehicles. 2 INTELLIGENT ENERGY WELCOMES MOTOR INDUSTRY MOVE TOWARDS FUEL CELLS NEW HIGH PERFORM- ANCE FUEL CELL An innovative 100kW automotive fuel cell from Intelligent Energy provides vehicle manufacturers with a new high performance op- tion for their next generation of Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs). It has been developed in re- sponse to increasing market de- mand for high power automotive fuel cell solutions and is the result of extensive research, engineer- ing, cost reduction and test activi- ties undertaken by Intelligent En- ergy’s Motive division. The system builds upon the company’s suc- cesses in developing advanced zero emission solutions both inde- pendently and with its world-class automotive customers. With 25 years of experience in the develop- engineered for low cost, high volume series ment and delivery of high power density, production. scalable fuel cell systems, Intelligent Energy already has non-exclusive, collaborative The key enabler for these high power densi- commercial relationships in place with a ties is the company’s proprietary, evapora- number of global vehicle manufacturers. tively-cooled (EC) technology. Compared to James Batchelor, Managing Director of Intelli- conventional liquid-cooled fuel cell stacks, gent Energy’s Motive division, said: “Our ca- the EC design removes the need for individ- pability and proven technology provides a ual cooling channels between each cell. This cost-effective opportunity for any vehicle delivers a considerable advantage in terms manufacturer without a presence in this fuel of stack mass and volume, and helps contrib- cell power-band to jump ahead of its com- ute to Intelligent Energy’s leadership in stack petitors. Our 100kW platform provides auto- power density which translates into in-vehicle motive original equipment manufacturers packaging and weight advantages. (OEMs) with a fast-track route to our next generation evaporatively-cooled stack tech- The 100kW fuel cell system is being an- nology, integrated into a compact system”. nounced at a time when consumer aware- ness of FCEVs is growing, boosted by new The 100kW fuel cell and core technology will vehicles being launched by Toyota, Hyundai be available to vehicle manufacturers and Honda. Batchelor added: “The concept, through technology licensing programmes design, technology elements and IP pack- and joint development agreements. It takes age are all in place to enable the platform to full advantage of Intelligent Energy’s superior be applied to customer vehicle programmes stack technology, which offers world leader- today.” ship in power density of 3kW/kg, whilst being 3 FUEL CELL TO EXTEND RANGE OF BATTERY ELECTRIC VEHICLES Intelligent Energy will lead a UK industry consortium that is to de- velop a new class of zero- emission, light commercial vehi- cle. By integrating fuel cell tech- nology into battery electric vehi- cles, the consortium will deliver the capability to provide low carbon light commercial vehi- cles with significantly improved range and rapid refuelling. The three-year project, utilising Intelligent En- MOTOR INDUSTRY PREPARING ergy’s world leading fuel cell technology, is to develop validated systems and vehicle FOR SALES OF FUEL CELL VEHICLES conversion expertise ready for volume manu- Dr Henri Winand Chief Executive Officer, Intel- facture. The goal is also to provide fleet op- ligent Energy, said that he has noted recently erators with a solution that enables vehicle how the automotive industry is readying itself operation for extended periods whilst being for the market introduction and commercial emissions free at the tailpipe. sales of fuel cell electric vehicles and he was delighted that Toyota had come to the same The consortium will receive a £6.3m grant conclusion. In fact, Toyota has been some- from the Advanced Propulsion Centre as thing of a trailblazer. Only in December did part of the £12.7m project. The other partners they release their new ‘MIRAI’ car, yet its re- comprise Frost EV, Frost Electronics, Millbrook, lease marked the culmination of 20 years’ CENEX, British Gas and DHL. The collabora- development. tive project minimises technical and com- mercial risk by providing a package that can While Toyota and other brands like Suzuki, a be integrated into vehicles, either as an end- long term partner of Intelligent Energy, have of-line fitment by an original equipment been early adopters and developers of hy- manufacturer, through a new-vehicle con- drogen technology, other Original Equipment version facility, or by retro-fitting at approved Manufacturers (OEMs) have chosen to focus centres. their attentions elsewhere. As the market de- velops and commercialisation of hydrogen Jon Beasley, Director of Technology and Pro- fuel cell vehicles becomes a reality, this po- jects from the Advanced Propulsion Centre, tentially leaves other OEMs significantly be- located at the University of Warwick, said: hind the curve. This is where Intelligent En- “Our aim is to position the UK as a global ergy comes into its own. Since our inception, centre for low carbon propulsion systems de- we have been working every day towards velopment and production. This consortium creating a fuel cell, now protected with over of British companies is helping the Advanced 1,000 key patents, with industry leading Propulsion Centre to deliver its aim with this power density, power per weight and power innovative project that uses hydrogen fuel per volume (critical factors in the automotive cell technologies. It has the potential to de- sector) and have become the only credible liver a viable zero-emission vehicle for fleet independent supplier of next generation operators around the world.” technology to the industry. 4 VOLKSWAGEN’S COMMITMENT UPPTM 2015 GOLD EDISON TO FUEL CELLS AWARD WINNER The announcement that the Volkswagen Intelligent Energy has announced that Group has acquired a portfolio of patents Upp™, its hydrogen fuel cell portable power from fuel cell provider Ballard for approxi- solution, has been named a 2015 Gold Edi- mately £32m is a strong indication of the son Award Winner.