ACTA.L Regulatory News (ACTA)

19 Jan 2006 07:01

Acta S.p.A.19 January 2006 19th January 2006 PRESS RELEASE Acta Develops Breakthrough Electrolyser Catalyst Acta S.p.A ("Acta"), the fuel cell technology enabler today announced that ithad filed a patent application for a HYPERMEC catalyst for electrolysers whichoffers very high efficiency and yet contains no expensive platinum.Electrolysers make hydrogen from water for industrial and fuel cell uses. Electrolysers are a vital component in present and future hydrogen generation The existing hydrogen market is 50 million tonnes per annum and growing. Ninetyfive percent of this hydrogen is produced from feedstock which generates over350m tonnes of greenhouse gas CO2 as a by-product. Electrolysers generatehydrogen without producing CO2, but have not been cost competitive with othertechnologies and currently have just a 5% share of this industrial market.Electrolyser developers have been seeking greater efficiency to reduce the costsof hydrogen generation. Electrolysers are seen as a key technology for reducinggreenhouse gas emission arising from the current production of hydrogen. Theyare also key for the fuel cell industry as they can generate hydrogen fuel fromrenewable sources and from surplus energy in the existing infrastructure. Acta's new catalyst is platinum free yet needs less energy to create hydrogen Acta has developed a prototype 25W electrolyser with an efficiency of over 90%,which is comparable to the most effective platinum-catalysed PEM electrolysersystem. However, Acta's catalyst is platinum-free, allowing for mass productionof hydrogen at a cost far below the catalysts currently available for PEMelectrolysers. This, combined with its high efficiency and ability to usecheaper anionic exchange membranes, is expected to have a significant impact onthe costs of generating hydrogen through PEM electrolysis. Acta has today fileda patent covering the use of its catalyst technology in electrolysers. Potential impact of the technology breakthrough Speaking about the new catalyst, Paolo Bert, Acta's Chief Executive, said: "Webelieve that the removal of platinum from the catalyst and the use of cheapermembrane technologies might allow electrolysers to achieve the US Department ofEnergy target of $300 per kWh. The increased efficiency will also enable morehydrogen to be manufactured through electrolysis, which is more environmentallyfriendly than the steam reformation of fossil fuels. Acta will therefore enablethe manufacture of the hydrogen that the world increasingly needs at a cost thatit can afford". Mr Woolrych, Chief Operating Officer, added: "Acta is committed to thedevelopment of platinum free catalysts for a wide range of markets. The additionof a product for electrolysers to the family of catalysts for fuel cells is partof that programme. It gives Acta the opportunity to sell HYPERMEC catalysts intoexisting industrial markets as well as to the fuel cell industry." Acta's demonstration electrolyser will be displayed at the FC Expo in Tokyo atthe stand Acta shares with Sumitomo Corporation, its Japanese distributor. Contact: Acta:Toby Woolrych Tel: 020 7067 0700 Weber Shandwick Square Mile:Melissa Rowling / Nick Dibden / Dominic Furlonge Tel: 020 7067 0700 Notes to editors: A large existing market for hydrogen which is producing huge quantities ofgreenhouse gas The existing hydrogen market is 50 million tonnes per annum and growing. Ninetyfive percent of this hydrogen is produced from feedstock which generates over350m tonnes of greenhouse gas CO2 as a by-product. Electrolysers do not produceCO2 but have not been cost competitive with other technologies and currentlyhave just a 5% share of this industrial market. Electrolyser developers havebeen seeking greater efficiency and to reduce the costs of hydrogen generation. What is an electrolyser? An electrolyser is an electrochemical device which takes an electrical input anduses this to break water into hydrogen and oxygen - in effect the reverse of afuel cell. Electrolysers are normally based on alkaline technology or PolymerExchange Mambrane (PEM) technology. A PEM electrolyser has the advantage overalkaline electrolysers of supplying hydrogen at higher pressure. Why use electrolysers? Electrolysers are seen as a key technology for reducing greenhouse gas emissionarising from the current production of hydrogen. Electrolysers use surplus energy: The current energy infrastructure cannotincrease and decrease the production of electricity at the rate of the sharpchanges in consumer use. As a result, the energy infrastructure at certain timesof day has "surplus energy" - electricity for which there is no market at thatpoint. The same is also true of certain renewable sources (wind and wave farmsfor example) where the production of electricity cannot be entirely aligned todemand. The ability to take this surplus energy and convert it to a storableform of clean energy (e.g. hydrogen) is therefore very desirable forenvironmental and economic reasons. Electrolysers produce hydrogen where it is needed: The current hydrogen marketis highly centralised for economic reasons around the supply of feedstock.However, there is then a very significant cost and energy loss of hydrogenduring the process of compression, storage and transportation to point of use.Electrolysers allow for the distributed generation of hydrogen - production inthe place where it is needed - which is much more efficient, provided costs canbe reduced of these distributed units. Platinum is a key cost in PEM electrolysers There are a number of different electrolyser technologies. PEM electrolysershave a small footprint and a high efficiency but have to date required highloadings of platinum catalyst to operate effectively. The platinum metal hasbeen estimated to make up a significant proportion of the total system cost andthis cost has risen sharply during 2005/06 as platinum has hit 25 year highs incost. HYPERMEC Catalyst. Acta has developed a platinum-free catalyst called HYPERMEC. HYPERMEC is made from cheap and abundant materials, dramatically lowering the cost of industrialising electrolysers and fuel cells. Acta. Acta is an Anglo-Italian company which floated on AIM in October 2005. Acta has recently completed its manufacturing and research facility near Pisa in Italy andis now rolling out its HYPERMEC catalysts to the global market for evaluation. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange