AFC Energy (LON:AFC), the industrial fuel cell power company, has announced eight strategic milestones and outcomes for 2016.
Last year saw AFC Energy significantly increase its fuel stack capacity and deliver for the first time a fully modular Balance of Plant (BoP), engineered and designed by the company, housing 24 fuel cell stacks in Stade, Germany.
This year the company wants to develop a second generation (Gen 2) fuel cell stack and BoP during the second half of the year.
This second generation stack will build on the successes and findings of 2015 to provide a more robust fuel cell system capable of wider international deployment, AFC said.
The second milestone is to operate the Gen 2 fuel stack and BoP over an extended test period before the year is out.
The final milestone pertaining to the fuel stack and BoP is to confirm the availability and longevity of the fuel cell system to meet minimum industry standards, as required by its project partners for commercial deployment.
On the product development side, the company has historically concentrated on delivery of its proprietary 240 kilowatt (kW) KORE module, designed for large-scale stationary applications, but the company is keen to respond to market trends by developing a wider variety of products.
It has announced two product development milestones: conclude the basic design and engineering on a single cartridge 10kW system capable of deployment in 2016; conclude the basic design and engineering on a 1MW (megawatt) capacity fuel cell system capable of deployment in 2017.
Regarding commercial opportunities, the company expects to make further progress in the conversion of existing memoranda of understanding and joint development agreements into binding contracts.
The company continues to work with existing partners and said there are several prospective partners still out there, as well as prospective clients and projects under investigation.
Not all of the prospective developments have been announced to the market, but the company did say on Tuesday that it intends to commence scoping studies for at least three international fuel cell projects with a focus on the Middle East and Asia, and to secure contracts for at least two international fuel cell projects for delivery in 2017.
It is also targeting new value-added strategic partnerships with recognised industrial & institutional groups.
"We made significant progress across the business in 2015 in delivering against our previous set of milestones,” said Adam Bond, chief executive officer of AFC.
“2015 saw a significant de-risking of AFC's proprietary fuel cell technology, which culminated in the delivery of the company's first industrial scale fuel cell system in Germany. I firmly believe that the delivery of these new milestones will continue this momentum as our technology finishes its journey to allow the commercial deployment of AFC's fuel cell system," he added.