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Proton Power Systems confirms 150 kW order, plans production robot
NEWS
PowerCell ships more stacks to Wuhan Tiger, plans China office
P
owerCell Sweden is shipping an additional 10 PowerCell S2 fuel cell stacks to Chinese company Wuhan Tiger Fuel Cell Vehicle Company Ltd. PowerCell also says that it plans to open a sales office in China, to better meet the growing interest in fuel cell technology for the Chinese market. In March 2017 Wuhan Tiger placed a large order with PowerCell for delivery of S2 fuel cell stacks and systems [FCB, April 2017, p12]. In conjunction with this, Wuhan Tiger placed an initial order for a total of 28 PowerCell S2 stacks, which have been delivered and used for testing to verify the system and technology. During Q3 of 2018 Wuhan Tiger took delivery of an additional 16 stacks; with the new order, a total of 54 PowerCell S2 stacks will have been delivered. Wuhan Tiger is developing hydrogen fuel cell commercial vehicles for the Chinese market in collaboration with electric vehicle manufacturer Skywell [January 2018, p5]. In a first phase the company will launch a fuel cell powered bus, and later a distribution truck. The company’s fuel cell bus was approved for production by the Chinese authorities last year. Meanwhile, PowerCell has decided to open a sales office in China, and has initiated the process to find a suitable location and recruit personnel. The company already has sales offices in Japan, South Korea and South Africa, and a German subsidiary. China is a highly interesting market for PowerCell, both because of its size and the Chinese government’s measures to support the increased use of fuel cells and hydrogen. ‘China is a forerunner when it comes to fuel cells and hydrogen,’ says Per Wassén, CEO of PowerCell. ‘We expect demand for the fuel cell technology to increase in China over the coming years.’
PowerCell Sweden: www.powercell.se Wuhan Tiger Fuel Cell Vehicle Co Ltd: http://en.whtiger.com
Proton Power Systems confirms 150 kW order, plans production robot
U
K-based Proton Power Systems Plc, which designs and manufactures
14
Fuel Cells Bulletin
fuel cells and fuel cell electric hybrid systems, has received a confirmed E630 000 (US$710 000) order to supply a 150 kW fuel cell package. The company’s German subsidiary Proton Motor Fuel Cell GmbH is also installing a stack manufacturing robot, which will allow it to increase production capacity to 5000 fuel cell units per annum. The 150 kW stack order is for a currently unidentified project, to produce hydrogen and provide power using hydrogen fuel cells, to avoid overloading the power grid. The project involves providing the three key components – electrolyser, hydrogen tank system, and fuel cell – and will also include recovery of ‘waste’ heat generated as a by-product of the processes, which will be integrated into the heat management of real estate, municipalities or cities. Proton will deliver the complete containerised fuel cell system and other fuel cell related components. The company can supply systems rated at up to 10 MW of prime power for stationary applications, in collaboration with its partners [see the Proton Motor feature in FCB, May 2015]. In other news, Proton Motor is currently installing a stack manufacturing robot that will boost its production capacity to 5000 units per annum. The manufacturing robot is part of the Fit-4-AMandA (Fit for Automatic Manufacturing and Assembly) project, which has been financed by the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) [May 2017, p13]. Proton is one of five partners that took part in the development and rigorous testing programme in order to perfect the robot’s performance and manufacturing capacity. Plans are already in place to modify the machine’s layout to be able to produce up to 30 000 stack units per annum, to meet future increasing demand. Proton Motor Fuel Cell GmbH: www.proton-motor.de/gb
For two decades Aalborg’s Department of Energy Technology has been active in fuel cell technology R&D, with students and researchers from all over the world. This has given the university extensive knowledge as well as the facilities for testing and optimising core components and systems. Blue World Technologies aims to produce energy-efficient methanol fuel cell systems at a competitive price within the next couple of years; the company is focused on the core technology, so the collaboration with Aalborg University will strengthen its R&D work. ‘As a university, it is of great importance to have a close collaboration with the companies in the fuel cell industry that are working on the manufacturing and commercialisation of the fuel cell technologies,’ comments Professor Søren Knudsen Kær, in the Department of Energy Technology. ‘Collaboration with Blue World Technologies gives us a unique insight to the technical challenges and research needs related to methanol fuel cell system design for the transportation sector, and to the setup of large-scale manufacturing.’ Two of the founders of Blue World Technologies, CEO Anders Korsgaard and CTO Mads Bang, were among the first PhD students working on fuel cell technologies at Aalborg University. The company has now grown to 29 staff, five of which have studied for a PhD on fuel cell technologies at the university. Blue World was founded last October to produce components and systems utilising high-temperature PEM fuel cell (HT-PEMFC) technology combined with integrated methanol reforming, for automotive and mobility applications [FCB, November 2018, p11]. It subsequently announced plans for a large-scale methanol fuel cell manufacturing facility at the Port of Aalborg [December 2018, p12], and completed a successful initial investment round [April 2019, p12].
Fit-4-AMandA project: www.fit-4-amanda.eu
Blue World Technologies: www.blue.world
RESEARCH
Blue World in strategic collaboration with Aalborg University
I
n Denmark, fuel cell technology company Blue World Technologies has entered into a strategic collaboration with Aalborg University, recognised worldwide for its work on fuel cell technologies.
Aalborg University, Department of Energy Technology: www.et.aau.dk
HyTechLab4NRW integrated lab for ZBT
T
he Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Center ZBT GmbH in Duisburg, Germany is investing more than E5 million (US$5.6 million) over the next few years to establish the HyTechLab4NRW Integrated Laboratory for Hydrogen Technology in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), in a substantial expansion
June 2019
PowerCell ships more stacks to Wuhan Tiger, plans China office
P
owerCell Sweden is shipping an additional 10 PowerCell S2 fuel cell stacks to Chinese company Wuhan Tiger Fuel Cell Vehicle Company Ltd. PowerCell also says that it plans to open a sales office in China, to better meet the growing interest in fuel cell technology for the Chinese market. In March 2017 Wuhan Tiger placed a large order with PowerCell for delivery of S2 fuel cell stacks and systems [FCB, April 2017, p12]. In conjunction with this, Wuhan Tiger placed an initial order for a total of 28 PowerCell S2 stacks, which have been delivered and used for testing to verify the system and technology. During Q3 of 2018 Wuhan Tiger took delivery of an additional 16 stacks; with the new order, a total of 54 PowerCell S2 stacks will have been delivered. Wuhan Tiger is developing hydrogen fuel cell commercial vehicles for the Chinese market in collaboration with electric vehicle manufacturer Skywell [January 2018, p5]. In a first phase the company will launch a fuel cell powered bus, and later a distribution truck. The company’s fuel cell bus was approved for production by the Chinese authorities last year. Meanwhile, PowerCell has decided to open a sales office in China, and has initiated the process to find a suitable location and recruit personnel. The company already has sales offices in Japan, South Korea and South Africa, and a German subsidiary. China is a highly interesting market for PowerCell, both because of its size and the Chinese government’s measures to support the increased use of fuel cells and hydrogen. ‘China is a forerunner when it comes to fuel cells and hydrogen,’ says Per Wassén, CEO of PowerCell. ‘We expect demand for the fuel cell technology to increase in China over the coming years.’
PowerCell Sweden: www.powercell.se Wuhan Tiger Fuel Cell Vehicle Co Ltd: http://en.whtiger.com
Proton Power Systems confirms 150 kW order, plans production robot
U
K-based Proton Power Systems Plc, which designs and manufactures
14
Fuel Cells Bulletin
fuel cells and fuel cell electric hybrid systems, has received a confirmed E630 000 (US$710 000) order to supply a 150 kW fuel cell package. The company’s German subsidiary Proton Motor Fuel Cell GmbH is also installing a stack manufacturing robot, which will allow it to increase production capacity to 5000 fuel cell units per annum. The 150 kW stack order is for a currently unidentified project, to produce hydrogen and provide power using hydrogen fuel cells, to avoid overloading the power grid. The project involves providing the three key components – electrolyser, hydrogen tank system, and fuel cell – and will also include recovery of ‘waste’ heat generated as a by-product of the processes, which will be integrated into the heat management of real estate, municipalities or cities. Proton will deliver the complete containerised fuel cell system and other fuel cell related components. The company can supply systems rated at up to 10 MW of prime power for stationary applications, in collaboration with its partners [see the Proton Motor feature in FCB, May 2015]. In other news, Proton Motor is currently installing a stack manufacturing robot that will boost its production capacity to 5000 units per annum. The manufacturing robot is part of the Fit-4-AMandA (Fit for Automatic Manufacturing and Assembly) project, which has been financed by the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) [May 2017, p13]. Proton is one of five partners that took part in the development and rigorous testing programme in order to perfect the robot’s performance and manufacturing capacity. Plans are already in place to modify the machine’s layout to be able to produce up to 30 000 stack units per annum, to meet future increasing demand. Proton Motor Fuel Cell GmbH: www.proton-motor.de/gb
For two decades Aalborg’s Department of Energy Technology has been active in fuel cell technology R&D, with students and researchers from all over the world. This has given the university extensive knowledge as well as the facilities for testing and optimising core components and systems. Blue World Technologies aims to produce energy-efficient methanol fuel cell systems at a competitive price within the next couple of years; the company is focused on the core technology, so the collaboration with Aalborg University will strengthen its R&D work. ‘As a university, it is of great importance to have a close collaboration with the companies in the fuel cell industry that are working on the manufacturing and commercialisation of the fuel cell technologies,’ comments Professor Søren Knudsen Kær, in the Department of Energy Technology. ‘Collaboration with Blue World Technologies gives us a unique insight to the technical challenges and research needs related to methanol fuel cell system design for the transportation sector, and to the setup of large-scale manufacturing.’ Two of the founders of Blue World Technologies, CEO Anders Korsgaard and CTO Mads Bang, were among the first PhD students working on fuel cell technologies at Aalborg University. The company has now grown to 29 staff, five of which have studied for a PhD on fuel cell technologies at the university. Blue World was founded last October to produce components and systems utilising high-temperature PEM fuel cell (HT-PEMFC) technology combined with integrated methanol reforming, for automotive and mobility applications [FCB, November 2018, p11]. It subsequently announced plans for a large-scale methanol fuel cell manufacturing facility at the Port of Aalborg [December 2018, p12], and completed a successful initial investment round [April 2019, p12].
Fit-4-AMandA project: www.fit-4-amanda.eu
Blue World Technologies: www.blue.world
RESEARCH
Blue World in strategic collaboration with Aalborg University
I
n Denmark, fuel cell technology company Blue World Technologies has entered into a strategic collaboration with Aalborg University, recognised worldwide for its work on fuel cell technologies.
Aalborg University, Department of Energy Technology: www.et.aau.dk
HyTechLab4NRW integrated lab for ZBT
T
he Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Center ZBT GmbH in Duisburg, Germany is investing more than E5 million (US$5.6 million) over the next few years to establish the HyTechLab4NRW Integrated Laboratory for Hydrogen Technology in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), in a substantial expansion
June 2019