Ceres Power Regulatory News (CWR)

16 May 2007 07:01

Ceres Power Holdings plc16 May 2007 Press Release for 16 May 2007 - FINAL Ceres Power Holdings plc ('Ceres', 'Ceres Power' or the 'Company') Ceres secures regional development agency funding for fuel cell manufacturing process development Ceres Power, the AIM-quoted fuel cell group, today announces that it has beensuccessful in securing a £0.5 million Exceptional Development grant from SEEDA,the South East England Development Agency. SEEDA has awarded Ceres this grantthrough a national DTI programme, to assist with the advance of new technologythat is strategically important to the UK. The grant will be used towards the development and commissioning of fuel cellmanufacturing machinery and processes in Ceres Power's Product Facility which ison track to begin this summer. The Product Facility will enable Ceres tovalidate key fuel cell manufacturing processes prior to the Company's plannedinvestment in a mass manufacturing plant (the "Mother Plant") in 2008. The Company's strategy is to reduce risks en route to mass production,simultaneously with its product development programme. Through this concurrentapproach, trials of the Company's CHP products benefit from incorporating fuelcells manufactured using commercially viable scalable processes. Over the past two years, Ceres has successfully recruited key employees tomanage its manufacturing, engineering, procurement and quality functions toensure a smooth transition to the automated manufacture of its fuel celltechnology in preparation for mass production. Peter Bance, CEO of Ceres Power, comments: "We are delighted to be awarded this valuable grant to help us de-risk the massmanufacture of our fuel cells prior to investment in the Mother Plant in 2008.The Product Facility will help us to develop the capability to deliver costeffective, high quality end-products for what we anticipate could be very highmarket demand." Jeff Alexander, Executive Director Global Competitiveness at SEEDA, comments: "This commitment illustrates how the South East of England has positioned itselffor the high-growth, leading-edge technology, alternative energy sector. We arepleased to be able to support a world-class business like Ceres Power whoseunique technology has the potential to address the long-term issues of energysavings, emissions reductions and fuel poverty in both private and public sectorhousing." For further information contact: Rex Vevers, Finance Director, Ceres Power +44 (0) 1293 400 404 Elly Williamson, M: Communications +44 (0) 207 153 1530 Francesca Fogell, SEEDA Marketing & PR Manager +44 (0) 1483 484 275francescafogell@seeda.co.uk - ends - About SEEDA The South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) is the Government fundedAgency responsible for the sustainable economic development and regeneration ofthe South East of England - the driving force of the UK's economy. Our aim is tocreate a prosperous, dynamic and inspirational region by helping businessescompete more effectively, training a highly skilled workforce, supporting andenabling our communities while safeguarding our natural resources and cherishingour rich cultural heritage. The Regional Economic Strategy (RES) for South East England 2006 -2016: a worldclass region achieving sustainable prosperity. The RES has three headline targets. Progress towards all three of these willprovide evidence of overall progress against the vision: Global Competitiveness: Achieving an average annual increase in GVA (Gross ValueAdded) per capita of at least 3%. Smart Growth: Increasing productivity per worker by an average 2.4% annually,from £39,000 in 2005 to at least £50,000 by 2016 (in constant prices). Sustainable Prosperity: Reducing the rate of increase in the region's ecologicalfootprint (from 6.3 global hectares per capita in 2003, currently increasing at1.1% per capita per annum), stabilizing it and seeking to reduce it by 2016. About Ceres Power Ceres is a successful AIM-listed fuel cell business developing a range of globalmarket applications including residential combined heat and power, on-site /back-up generators and auxiliary power units for transport. The technology isbased on commercially available materials for low cost manufacture and unlikemany fuel cells, the Ceres cell operates on widely available fuels like naturalgas and LPG, as well as on hydrogen. Ceres has developed a new generation of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) technologywhich operates in the temperature range of 500-600 degrees centigrade. This issubstantially lower than the temperatures at which conventional SOFC materialsoperate, typically 800-1000 degrees centigrade for YSZ (Yttria Stabilised Zirconia). The inherently lower operating temperature of the Ceres CGO based SOFCtechnology enables thin ceramic layers to be supported by metal substrates,which, in turn, provides the basis of cell and stack designs manufactured fromcommercially available grades of stainless steel, providing excellent sealingintegrity, mechanical robustness, and thermal shock resistance. Fuel and air are supplied to a stack of fuel cell layers to produce electricityand heat via a solid state electrochemical process, similar to a battery.Unlike combustion in an engine or with a burner, this solid state process ishighly efficient, environmentally friendly, and quiet. The uniqueness of the Ceres metal supported SOFC technology and its operatingtemperature range provide the basis for a range of attractive commercialapplications in terms of: fuel efficiency, with associated economic savings andreduction in carbon emissions; heat-to-power ratio ideally suited for domesticCHP applications and well matched to seasonal variations in electrical and heatdemand; the ability to operate on a range of commercially available fuelsincluding natural gas and LPG; low temperature of operation enabling use ofcommercially available materials resulting in reduced product costs. In conjunction with the Ceres stack programme, the Company has been developingthe non-fuel cell elements within the complete product, known as the balance ofplant ("BOP"), as part of its systems integration activities aimed at deliveringproducts for specific customers. Because of the unique attributes of thetechnology, Ceres has been able to dramatically reduce the time and cost of BOPdevelopment and systems integration by utilising mature component supply chainsand ordinary, low cost materials. Unlike other fuel cell designs which operateat more extreme temperatures, time-consuming and expensive bespoke solutions forBOP components are not required. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange