Sian Crampsie
Finland's VTT Technical Research Centre is developing a next-generation fuel cell system that will have a greater efficiency and longer service life than existing fuel cells.
VTT is collaborating with Convion Ltd and Elcogen Ltd to develop a 50 kW fuel cell system that will have an efficiency of 60 per cent for electricity production and a total efficiency of 85 per cent.
Elcogen will deliver the fuel cells while VTT will act as the project coordinator, supporting the R&D of the companies participating in the project and validating the service life of the system and the cells. The target is to double the service life and halve the cost of fuel cell systems, enabling the emergence of commercial applications.
Other participants in this project include Dutch Energy Matters, Italy's ENEA, Dutch ElringKlinger AG and Forschungszentrum Jülich.
According to VTT the adoption of fuel cells has been hindered by their short service life and high price. The factors have been made the key development areas of the INNO-SOFC project, of which this project is part.
INNO-SOFC was launched in September and is funded by the EU and managed by VTT.
The project is scheduled for completion in April 2018. Out of a budget of €4 million, the Finnish small and medium-sized companies Elcogen Ltd and Convion Ltd will be allocated a total of €2.3 million for their own R&D, and VTT approximately €0.6 million.
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