--UPDATE, ADDS BROKER COMMENT--
Ceres Power (LON:CWR) says a new project it's been involved with has shown its Steel Cell can be mass-produced at affordable prices.
In partnership with ASM Alternative Energy (ASM AE), the firm has completed a scale up project, allowing faster manufacturing production - a key step towards mass market commercialisation of the group's fuel cell technology, it said.
A new high-speed print line at Ceres' facility in Horsham, West Sussex, has reduced the print-cycle time from 30 seconds to just 3 seconds, representing a 10 fold increase in processing speed.
It was part-funded by £0.7mln from Innovate UK's Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative.
In simple terms, Ceres' Steel Cell is a perforated sheet of steel with a special ceramic layer that converts fuel directly into electrical power. It uses mains gas, which means it can be mass produced at an affordable price for domestic and business use.
It is greener than diesel and gas generators as it produces no sulphur and nitrogen oxides.
Ceres says it sees growing opportunities for its technology across a range of mass-market power applications and is working with leading power systems companies worldwide, including Honda as revealed last month.
Chief operating officer James Falla said: "This scale up project represents an important step change in cost that fuel cells need to bring about widespread adoption.
"With the help of Innovate UK funding and ASM Alternative Energy we are now showing that our Steel Cell can be mass manufactured economically using highly scalable processes, allowing us to provide customers with a low cost fuel cell solution."
Broker SP Angel, in a note, said: “The combination of advanced production technologies may prove to be as significant as the development of Ceres’ fuel cell itself.
“The ability to screen print ceramic onto steel cells at speed is an important advance and should significantly cut the time taken to manufacture cells as well as the associated cost.”