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(Alliance News) - AFC Energy PLC on Monday said it will be focusing on its new hydrogen-fuelled electric vehicle charger for the rest of 2019, targeting commercial launch in December.
Shares in energy technology firm AFC were up 15% at 5.16 pence in London on Monday.
The 72-kilowatt hour off-grid charging system is hoped to launch this year and AFC is to parter with Rolec Services, "Europe's largest manufacturer of EV charge points", to bring it to market. The EV charger will be able to operate at "demand points across the UK where the grid cannot reliably meet current or future EV charge demand".
AFC will particularly target "multi-user sites" like car parks, shopping centres, and fleet operators, as well as "other off grid applications". The system can potentially be scaled up to 288 kilowatt hours from 72 kilowatt hours with assistance from ACF partner MSP Technologies.
In addition, AFC has signed an agreement "with an international original engineering manufacturer" looking into an "ammonia to power" off-grid platform. AFC has already had some success with a fuel cell system using cracked ammonia as fuel instead of CO2 and with no "costly clean up or gas processing". AFC and the undisclosed "international OEM" will work together " on a confidential basis" to explore potential in this area.
Further, the company's electrode pairing demonstration - part of a joint development agreement with Industrie De Nora - has achieved "10,000 hours of continuous operation", a milestone for the company. This marks another step forward for AFC as it moves toward commercial development, it said, with the company and De Nora further extending their joint commitments as part of the agreement.
AFC also is working on a high-power density alkaline fuel cell system, which would raise "the amount of power from a single cell by up to 5 times that of current technology". Progress has been made and AFC now believes is has evidence in support of "the new [high-power density] fuel cell's ability to deliver power density equal to or greater than alternative technology platforms currently used in transportation and other small footprint systems.
Chief Executive Adam Bond said: "The company's new hydrogen fuelled EV charger is the focus of our business for the remainder of this year and will set the benchmark for sustainable, off-grid and reliable power supply to an industry whose size is estimated to be near GBP100 billion in the UK alone. Alongside the wider catalogue of systems being preparing for deployment, AFC Energy is as confident as ever of the opportunities we and our world class partners are creating within the emerging Hydrogen Economy."
By Anna Farley; annafarley@alliancenews.com
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