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CFCL manufacturing services deal with electronics maker Jabil
NEWS Intelligent Energy: www.intelligent-energy.com Copenhagen Hydrogen Network: http://ow.ly/7y5H8 Hydrogen Link Denmark: www.hydrogenlink.net hySOLUTIONS GmbH: www.hysolutions-hamburg.de LBST: www.lbst.de Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft: www.fraunhofer.de HyRaMP: www.hy-ramp.eu MATGAS 2000 AIE: www.matgas.org
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acquired a minority stake in Plug Power at the end of 2008 [FCB, February 2009]. Mr Miroshnichenko is the director for strategic development for INTER RAO UES, and has held director positions on the boards of a number of Russian electricity companies. Mr Rasskazov is the head of department for target capital structure for INTER RAO UES, and has previously held positions in global investment banking firms Merrill Lynch and Barclays Capital. Plug Power Inc, Latham, New York, USA. Tel: +1 518 782 7700, www.plugpower.com Air Squared Manufacturing Inc: www.airsquared.com
Plug Power in large order for compressors, adds to board
I
n the US, Plug Power has placed a large production order with Air Squared Manufacturing, for scroll compressors to be used in the GenDrive® product suite. The company has also announced the addition to its board of directors of two representatives from Russian-based INTER RAO UES, which now has a one-third stake in Plug Power. Air Squared has supplied compressors to Plug Power since 2006. By the end of this year, its compressors will be operational in more than 2000 GenDrive systems deployed with material handling customers across North America. Plug Power was the first fuel cell company to partner with the Colorado-based company. Air Squared scroll compressors are used to direct air to the GenDrive fuel cell stack. Scroll compressors are inherently more efficient and reliable, consisting of only two primary moving parts, for a small and compact design. They are also oil-free, meeting the requirements set by Plug Power for clean compressed air without impurities. Air Squared is also using scroll technology to develop efficient hydrogen recirculation pumps for fuel cell applications. ‘As one of our major customers, Plug Power has played a large part in our rapid growth over the last two years,’ says Robert Shaffer, president of Air Squared. ‘Plug Power has helped provide the base business we needed to bring machining in-house, resulting in large-scale price reductions and a vast improvement in quality.’ Meanwhile, Evgeny Miroshnichenko and Evgeny Rasskazov have joined Plug Power’s board of directors. Both currently work for INTER RAO UES, based in Moscow, which earlier this year took over OJSC ‘Third Generation Company of the Wholesale Electricity Market’ (OGK-3), which itself 8
Fuel Cells Bulletin
CFCL manufacturing services deal with electronics maker Jabil
C
eramic Fuel Cells Ltd, a leading developer of solid oxide fuel cell power products for homes and buildings, has signed a manufacturing services Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Jabil Circuit Inc. Under the MOU, Australian-based Ceramic Fuel Cells will collaborate with Jabil in St Petersburg, Florida on scaling up the manufacturing of CFCL’s high-efficiency, low-emissions Gennex™ SOFC module and the BlueGen™ electricity generation product. CFCL and Jabil will work together to increase CFCL’s manufacturing volumes and reduce unit costs quickly, while maintaining consistent quality and security of supply. Jabil is a global electronic manufacturing services provider; its global cleantech business unit makes a range of energy products including solar panels, smart grid meters, and wind turbines. Working with Jabil will allow CFCL to benefit from Jabil’s expertise and scale in contract manufacturing and global supply chain management. Jabil’s manufacturing services to CFCL are expected to grow over time to match CFCL’s increasing sales volumes. The details of the particular services in each phase will be set out in a formal supply agreement to be signed at the time. The first phase of cooperation is for CFCL to source selected components from Jabil’s manufacturing operations. This phase is expected to begin early in 2012. The second phase is for CFCL to source major sub-assemblies from Jabil. The final phase is for Jabil to assemble finished products as a contract manufacturer for CFCL. CFCL has built and is operating a volume manufacturing plant in Germany [FCB, October 2009], where it produces fuel cell
stacks and assembles complete Gennex SOFC modules and BlueGen products. This cooperation with Jabil complements CFCL’s initial manufacturing capacity. CFCL will retain control of fuel cell stack manufacturing and all related intellectual property into the future, while progressively outsourcing the manufacturing and supply of components, subassemblies, and ultimately the mass-manufactured BlueGen product. ‘Over the past year our order book has grown from 50 units to 500 units, and we need to plan ahead for much larger volumes in the coming years,’ says Brendan Dow, managing director of Ceramic Fuel Cells. ‘Working with an expert contract manufacturer will help us to increase our volumes and reduce our unit costs much faster than trying to do it all ourselves.’ Ceramic Fuel Cells has sold more than 300 BlueGen gas-to-electricity fuel cell generators to major utilities and other foundation customers in Germany, France, the UK, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Italy, Japan, Australia, and the US. It recently received an order for 100 BlueGen generators from Zestiq BV, its distributor in the Netherlands [FCB, September 2011]. The company is also developing fully integrated power and heating products with leading energy companies E.ON UK in the UK [FCB, January 2011], GdF Suez in France, and EWE in Germany [FCB, August 2011]. Ceramic Fuel Cells Ltd, Noble Park, Victoria, Australia. Tel: +61 3 9554 2300, www.cfcl.com.au BlueGen: www.bluegen.info Jabil Circuit Inc: www.jabil.com
America’s top firms energized by fuel cell power, says report
A
new report from Fuel Cells 2000 highlights 34 corporate customers in the US that have installed, deployed, or purchased more than 250 fuel cell power systems and hundreds of backup power units – totaling more than 30 MW of power capacity – in the past year. This is in addition to more than 1000 fuel cell powered forklifts. Fuel Cells 2000, a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC, has published a new report, The Business Case for Fuel Cells 2011: Energizing America’s Top Companies. The report profiles 24 new corporate fuel cell customers, and revisits 10 companies that have installed or ordered additional systems for several North American locations since last year.
November 2011
COMMERCIALIZATION
acquired a minority stake in Plug Power at the end of 2008 [FCB, February 2009]. Mr Miroshnichenko is the director for strategic development for INTER RAO UES, and has held director positions on the boards of a number of Russian electricity companies. Mr Rasskazov is the head of department for target capital structure for INTER RAO UES, and has previously held positions in global investment banking firms Merrill Lynch and Barclays Capital. Plug Power Inc, Latham, New York, USA. Tel: +1 518 782 7700, www.plugpower.com Air Squared Manufacturing Inc: www.airsquared.com
Plug Power in large order for compressors, adds to board
I
n the US, Plug Power has placed a large production order with Air Squared Manufacturing, for scroll compressors to be used in the GenDrive® product suite. The company has also announced the addition to its board of directors of two representatives from Russian-based INTER RAO UES, which now has a one-third stake in Plug Power. Air Squared has supplied compressors to Plug Power since 2006. By the end of this year, its compressors will be operational in more than 2000 GenDrive systems deployed with material handling customers across North America. Plug Power was the first fuel cell company to partner with the Colorado-based company. Air Squared scroll compressors are used to direct air to the GenDrive fuel cell stack. Scroll compressors are inherently more efficient and reliable, consisting of only two primary moving parts, for a small and compact design. They are also oil-free, meeting the requirements set by Plug Power for clean compressed air without impurities. Air Squared is also using scroll technology to develop efficient hydrogen recirculation pumps for fuel cell applications. ‘As one of our major customers, Plug Power has played a large part in our rapid growth over the last two years,’ says Robert Shaffer, president of Air Squared. ‘Plug Power has helped provide the base business we needed to bring machining in-house, resulting in large-scale price reductions and a vast improvement in quality.’ Meanwhile, Evgeny Miroshnichenko and Evgeny Rasskazov have joined Plug Power’s board of directors. Both currently work for INTER RAO UES, based in Moscow, which earlier this year took over OJSC ‘Third Generation Company of the Wholesale Electricity Market’ (OGK-3), which itself 8
Fuel Cells Bulletin
CFCL manufacturing services deal with electronics maker Jabil
C
eramic Fuel Cells Ltd, a leading developer of solid oxide fuel cell power products for homes and buildings, has signed a manufacturing services Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Jabil Circuit Inc. Under the MOU, Australian-based Ceramic Fuel Cells will collaborate with Jabil in St Petersburg, Florida on scaling up the manufacturing of CFCL’s high-efficiency, low-emissions Gennex™ SOFC module and the BlueGen™ electricity generation product. CFCL and Jabil will work together to increase CFCL’s manufacturing volumes and reduce unit costs quickly, while maintaining consistent quality and security of supply. Jabil is a global electronic manufacturing services provider; its global cleantech business unit makes a range of energy products including solar panels, smart grid meters, and wind turbines. Working with Jabil will allow CFCL to benefit from Jabil’s expertise and scale in contract manufacturing and global supply chain management. Jabil’s manufacturing services to CFCL are expected to grow over time to match CFCL’s increasing sales volumes. The details of the particular services in each phase will be set out in a formal supply agreement to be signed at the time. The first phase of cooperation is for CFCL to source selected components from Jabil’s manufacturing operations. This phase is expected to begin early in 2012. The second phase is for CFCL to source major sub-assemblies from Jabil. The final phase is for Jabil to assemble finished products as a contract manufacturer for CFCL. CFCL has built and is operating a volume manufacturing plant in Germany [FCB, October 2009], where it produces fuel cell
stacks and assembles complete Gennex SOFC modules and BlueGen products. This cooperation with Jabil complements CFCL’s initial manufacturing capacity. CFCL will retain control of fuel cell stack manufacturing and all related intellectual property into the future, while progressively outsourcing the manufacturing and supply of components, subassemblies, and ultimately the mass-manufactured BlueGen product. ‘Over the past year our order book has grown from 50 units to 500 units, and we need to plan ahead for much larger volumes in the coming years,’ says Brendan Dow, managing director of Ceramic Fuel Cells. ‘Working with an expert contract manufacturer will help us to increase our volumes and reduce our unit costs much faster than trying to do it all ourselves.’ Ceramic Fuel Cells has sold more than 300 BlueGen gas-to-electricity fuel cell generators to major utilities and other foundation customers in Germany, France, the UK, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Italy, Japan, Australia, and the US. It recently received an order for 100 BlueGen generators from Zestiq BV, its distributor in the Netherlands [FCB, September 2011]. The company is also developing fully integrated power and heating products with leading energy companies E.ON UK in the UK [FCB, January 2011], GdF Suez in France, and EWE in Germany [FCB, August 2011]. Ceramic Fuel Cells Ltd, Noble Park, Victoria, Australia. Tel: +61 3 9554 2300, www.cfcl.com.au BlueGen: www.bluegen.info Jabil Circuit Inc: www.jabil.com
America’s top firms energized by fuel cell power, says report
A
new report from Fuel Cells 2000 highlights 34 corporate customers in the US that have installed, deployed, or purchased more than 250 fuel cell power systems and hundreds of backup power units – totaling more than 30 MW of power capacity – in the past year. This is in addition to more than 1000 fuel cell powered forklifts. Fuel Cells 2000, a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC, has published a new report, The Business Case for Fuel Cells 2011: Energizing America’s Top Companies. The report profiles 24 new corporate fuel cell customers, and revisits 10 companies that have installed or ordered additional systems for several North American locations since last year.
November 2011