Ceres Power Regulatory News (CWR)

28 Sep 2005 07:04

Ceres Power Holdings plc28 September 2005 Technical Milestone Ceres Power announces latest technical milestone marking fuel cell success with propane 28 September 2005: AIM-quoted Ceres Power Holdings plc ("Ceres Power"or "the Company") has passed another key technical milestone - establishing that its world-leading fuel cell can be engineered into a power generating system fuelled by bottled gas. The Company has successfully designed, built and tested an integrated fuel cellsystem comprising a bottled gas supply, fuel processor and multi-layer stack. Acontinuous supply of electricity in the range of 250 to 400 Watts was generatedas the system was put through its paces in a series of tests simulatingin-service operating conditions. Ceres Power's Product Development Director, Andrew Baker said: "This isanother crucial milestone in our development programme, proving not only thatour cell will work with a range of readily available fuels, but also that Cereshas the expertise to produce integrated power systems for its target markets." A Ceres Power product fed by bottles of gas would be ideally suited to provide areliable, energy-efficient and silent supply of power for a range ofapplications such as telecoms base stations, on construction sites, and variousleisure uses. This is the latest in an important sequence of technical breakthroughs for theCompany. Over the past few months, the Company has also announced a four-foldincrease in both the size and power output of its fuel cell and has set a seriesof global performance records within the fuel cell industry. Unlike many fuel cell technologies that can operate only on pure hydrogen, CeresPower cells can also operate on a range of commercially available fuels, so theyare not dependent on the widespread development of a hydrogen economy. Building on its multi-fuel capability and product engineering know-how, CeresPower has established a relationship with the industrial gases giant BOC thattargets off-grid applications using LPG. The Company has also recentlyannounced an alliance with British Gas to develop a domestic boiler that willproduce heat and electricity using the existing natural gas supply. For further information contact: Peter Bance, Chief Executive, Ceres Power Ltd: +44 (0) 1293 400 404Allan Piper: First City Financial Public Relations: +44 (0) 20 7436 7486 +44 (0) 7736 064 982 Background follows: How a fuel cell works Fuel cells are solid-state electrochemical devices that convert fuel directlyinto electricity and heat in an extremely efficient and environmentally friendlyway, offering significant energy savings and emissions reductions overtraditional combustion technologies. While fuel cells are like engines in that they convert fuel into other forms ofenergy, their design and construction is more akin to batteries with their flatelectrolyte layers sandwiched between electrodes. The challenge facing the fuelcell industry has been to develop economic solutions based on commerciallyavailable fuels like LPG, propane, and natural gas. The patented Ceres fuel cell technology has distinct technical and commercialadvantages over the alternatives. Operating temperatures well below traditionalsolid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) enables the use of commercially available steelsfor the stack and other components in the fuel cell system. The metal supportfor the electrochemical cell provides the basis of durable products forend-users. The absence of expensive precious metal catalysts commonly found inpolymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells means that Ceres is not limited tooperation on pure hydrogen and the minimal fuel processing requirements involvesimple, compact solutions. Through these unique benefits, Ceres technology canprovide cost-effective products for a range of on-grid and off-grid mass-marketapplications. About Ceres Power Ceres Power is a successful AIM-listed fuel cell business targeting a range ofglobal market applications including on-site/back-up generators, residentialcombined heat and power, and auxiliary power units for transport. Critically,the technology uses low-cost materials and existing mass-production techniques.And unlike many fuel cells, the Ceres cell can run on widely available fuelslike LPG, propane and natural gas as well as on hydrogen. The company received major recognition for its green credentials when it becamethe 2003 winner of the prestigious Carbon Trust Innovation Award. Morerecently, the Company secured the industry!s top accolade by winning theInstitute of Materials, Minerals and Mining!s Gold Medal for 2005. Since its formation in 2001, Ceres Power has raised over £25 million of fundingthrough two rounds of private equity and its AIM IPO in November 2004. Thecompany has many blue chip City institutions as financial backers includingFidelity, Morley, and Jupiter. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange