RWE hopes to launch fuel cell CHP systems by 2004
Date: 12-Sep-01
Country: UK
The new systems would enable groups of homes and commercial premises to become more energy efficient and reduce greenhouse gases emissions by running their own clean power and heat generating units.
"We're planning to have a commercially available product by the end of 2004," said Heinz Bergmann, project manager for fuel cells at RWE Plus AG, at a fuel cell symposium in London yesterday.
The fuel cell technology, which can transform gas into electricity through an electrochemical reaction without combustion, is seen as one of the clean alternatives to produce power because of its very low emissions.
"In Germany alone, we believe fuel cell CHP technology could save up to 70 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) per annum," said Bergmann.
RWE estimates that power production based on fuel cell could represents 10 percent of the wholesale market in Germany by 2015.
RWE is developing the fuel cell CHP system for residential use in cooperation with Italian-American fuel cell technology company Nuvera.
The technology is expected to generate between 70 and 80 percent of electricity and between 25 and 30 percent of heat.
"It would cover most needs for electricity, but conventional heating would be needed as well," said Bergmann.
The cost to the customer is estimated at between 2,500 marks and 3,000 marks per kilowatt of electricity (kWe), the measure used for CHP production, in addition to the cost of conventional systems.
The fuel cell CHP system for commercial use is being developed together with MTU, a subsidiary of car manufacturer DaimlerChrysler AG .
It is expected to generate around 55 percent of electricity and 45 percent of heat, said Bergmann.
Bergmann added that the technology, which still had to prove itself on the end-consumer market, needed financial support and government funding during the initial stage.
"Subsidies are necessary until 2007 to compensate for the costs," he told the conference.
He added that the German government had made 90 million euros available for research and development and initial production of the fuel cell technology, of which 15 million would go to CHP projects.
The fuel cell technology is also being developed in car manufacturing to replace the combustion engine and lower emissions.