Ceramic Fuel Cells Regulatory News (CFU)

Friday 3 February 2012

CFCL Welcomes Forthcoming Rise in UK Feed in Tariff

Minister confirms strong support for Micro Heat and Power

Ceramic Fuel Cells (AIM / ASX: CFU) a leading developer of high efficiency and low emission power products for homes and other buildings, welcomes the recent comments made by Greg Barker, UK Minister of State (Climate Change) MP, during an adjournment debate on micro heat and power ("micro-CHP") at the House of Commons.

The Minister confirmed his intention to raise the UK feed in tariff for micro-CHP, remove the 30,000 cap in the upcoming Phase 2 of the feed in tariff consultation, provide support to the ambition of a 1 million unit installed base by 2020 and for future regulatory measures to drive micro-CHP uptake.

The UK currently provides a feed in tariff for micro CHP products, which generate power and heat on-site. The tariff is 10 pence for every kilowatt hour of electricity generated plus an additional three pence for every kilowatt hour of electricity exported to the grid. Ceramic Fuel Cells' BlueGen product is the first and currently the only fuel cell micro CHP product to receive certification under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) and be eligible for the feed in tariff.

Comments made by Minister Barker included:

"Micro-CHP can play a much larger role in driving the decentralised energy revolution…there are few homes that couldn't benefit from micro-CHP… There is a clear role for Government leadership to bring micro-CHP to market…as an attractive, price-competitive alternative to taking electricity from the grid or installing a conventional boiler." 

Commenting on the Minister's intentions, Paddy Thompson, Business Development Manager, CFCL, said:

"Decentralised energy production via micro-CHP offers significant efficiency savings and it is very encouraging to hear that the UK government fully recognizes this and intends to plays its part in supporting the growth of the micro-CHP industry.

"CFCL's BlueGen is the only fuel cell based micro-CHP product available to the UK residential market with the necessary approvals to receive the feed in tariff. As one of the world's leading companies committed to driving down energy costs via micro-CHP, CFCL looks forward to supporting the initiatives of the UK government."

Ceramic Fuel Cells' BlueGen product converts natural gas into electricity and heat for hot water for homes and other buildings. BlueGen delivers an electrical efficiency of up to 60 percent - the highest in the world. When the heat from BlueGen is used to produce hot water, total efficiency increases to up to 85 percent.

The adjournment debate is available at: www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=9929&st=11:00:28

ENDS

About Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited:

Ceramic Fuel Cells is a world leader in developing fuel cell technology to generate highly efficient and low-emission electricity from widely available natural gas. Ceramic Fuel Cells has sold its BlueGen gas-to-electricity generator to major utilities and other foundation customers in Germany, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Italy, Japan, Australia, and the USA. Ceramic Fuel Cells is also developing fully integrated power and heating products with leading energy companies E.ON UK in the United Kingdom, GdF Suez in France and EWE in Germany.

The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange AIM market and the Australian Securities Exchange (code CFU).

www.cfcl.com.au