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Lpg Fuel Cell Boilers to Rival Renewables

Launching in 2012, Ceres and Calor are developing an lp gas fuel cell boiler to help reduce carbon emissions and rival renewable technologies.

Ceres Power, the AIM-quoted alternative energy company, and Calor Gas Ltd announced a partnership last year to develop a residential combined heat and power (CHP) product operating on lpg gas.

A fuel cell is a stainless steel plate perforated by thousands of tiny holes and coated in thin layers of ceramic ink. Air passes down one side of the plate and fuel passes down the other. Both electricity and heat are generated through an electrochemical reaction.

A number of fuel cells are combined into a ‘stack’ that can generate most of the power needed by a typical UK home in a year. The stack is integrated into an lpg gas boiler that can be connected to an lpg source and a household’s central heating, hot water and power. In February, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) announced the introduction of a Feed-in Tariff (FIT) from April 2010 for residential micro combined heat and power. The FIT is designed to increase the amount of locally produced green energy as a contribution to the shift of the UK energy mix to low carbon. The FIT will provide a financial incentive to homeowners for small-scale low carbon electricity generated in homes.

Peter Bance, chief executive officer of Ceres Power, said: “We are pleased that the UK government has recognised the low carbon benefits of fuel cell micro CHP. We believe this incentive will accelerate the uptake of our low carbon micro CHP products by increasing the financial benefits to households. This will also create green jobs and be a major boost to the UK economy.”

Under the FIT, for ten years a household will receive a generation payment of 10p/kWh for all electricity generated, plus an additional export payment of 3p/kWh for any electricity that is not consumed in the home and is fed back into the grid. As an example, an annual electricity generation of 3,500 kWh, of which 10 percent is exported to the grid, would give a household an annual cash back of £360.

Ceres and Calor intend to maximise sales of their lp gas fuel cell boiler by addressing not only existing lpg customers, but also the more than 2 million homes and small businesses using oil, solid fuel or electrical heating. Calor says the new technology offers a radical alternative to the Government’s renewable energy measures.

Under the current Government strategy to hit its target of reducing carbon emissions by 34 per cent by 2020, nearly £60 billion will be needed to fund a switch to energy sources, such as biomass (wood chip boilers) and wind turbines, which are the officially preferred technologies for reducing emissions. Ministers are committed to raising the renewable element in energy generation from 1.5 per cent to 15 per cent by 2020.

Ceres’ fuel cell boiler, to be launched on lpg gas in 2012, will aim to generate up to 80 per cent of the electricity required at the average property. British Gas is developing a similar system to be used on natural gas that will hit the market next year. Calor says the new boilers will not place a burden on the economy, in contrast to the Government policy on its preferred biomass boilers, since they already exist or are close to market.

Paul Blacklock, head of marketing and corporate affairs at Calor, said: “We fully support the urgent need to cut carbon emissions and the appropriate use of renewable technologies. But we think the Government’s current wholesale reliance on renewables will not deliver the goods and is not affordable. The new technology we are developing with our partners will ease the burden on consumers while ensuring the UK hits our all important carbon emission reduction targets.”

Calor estimates that the technology will save around £60 billion and reduce domestic gas bills from their current projected increases by 30 per cent by 2020. Electricity bills would fall by 15 per cent from current projections.

Contact Ceres Power on 01293 400404 www.cerespower.com