Ceres Power Share News (CWR)

(Sharecast News) - Fuel cell technology group Ceres Power Holdings has agreed to extend its collaboration with Bosch following a "successful prototype phase".
Ceres said on Monday that it would now prepare for mass production of its solid oxide fuel-cell systems, with the systems set to be used in the stationary power market, initially for decentralised power plants in cities, factories, data centres and electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

The AIM-listed group said the deal would earn it roughly £23.0m from 2021 to 2023, with £6.0m being conditional on meeting key performance indicators based on performance.

Ceres added that multiple sites in Germany were aiming to produce an initial aggregate 200-megawatt capacity in 2024.

Chief executive Phil Caldwell said: "We are delighted that our relationship with our trusted partner Bosch goes from strength to strength and are confident that the combination of our innovative technology and Bosch's industrial engineering expertise will deliver significant value for both companies in providing products that contribute towards addressing the challenge of climate change."

Analysts at Berenberg hiked their target price on Ceres from 790.0p to 1,060.0p on Monday, stating the deal marked "the biggest milestone in the Ceres investment thesis to date"

Berenberg said: "Ceres's future has never been brighter, in our view. We remain conviction buyers."

For their part, analysts at Liberum said that it was "encouraging" to see Bosch undertake such sizeable capital outlays, saying they further validated the use of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells for stationary power and would drive economies of scale in the SOFC supply base.

While not mentioned in the firm's press release, they had penciled-in £12m of royalty revenues per year for Ceres from the 200MW of manufacturing capacity being pursued by Bosch, adding that by 2030 the German outfit could be heading to over 1GW.

Liberum was at a 'buy' on shares of Ceres Power.

As of 1130 GMT, Ceres shares had shot up 10.36% to 1,018.59p.