Hydrogen fuel cell developer AFC Energy plc (LON:AFC) is poised to move into the commercialisation phase in 2017.
Having made its first commercial sale of a hydrogen fuel cell system earlier this month, and with a strengthened balance sheet following a well-supported fund-raising, the company said in its full-year results statement it has the technology and team to take a central position within the low-carbon economy, for both industrial scale and distributed generation applications.
“I believe 2017 to be the year in which we start to see the fruits of our collective labour,” said chairman Tim Yeo.
Chief executive officer Adam Bond said 2016 had been an important year of consolidation for the company, with progress made on its fuel cell technology platform and also in its dialogues with several key commercial and strategic partners, such as De Nora, one of the world's leading experts in the field of electro-chemistry.
“The corporate value gained from AFC Energy's collaboration with De Nora, and the commencement of commercial project developments with Peel Environmental, cannot be undervalued and positions the company well for an accelerated programme of activities in 2017," Bond said.
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Addressable market opportunities identified by the company include large-scale stationary industrial power plants, integration with industrial and chemical plants with surplus hydrogen, and off-grid decentralised power generation.
As a company only just entering the commercialisation phase, the profit & loss numbers for 2016 are not especially meaningful, but for the record the pre-tax loss of £6.48mln was lower than the £6.92mln the market had been expecting, albeit wider than the £4.78mln loss in 2015.
Grant income from the European Union declined in 2016 to £967,606 from £2.26mln in 2015, but the tax man stumped up £822,830 compared to £569,706 the year before, which reduced the bottom line loss to £5.66mln, compared to a post-tax loss of £4.78mln the previous year.
“In 2017, as we further evaluate our project opportunities, our primary focus remains the deployment of our fuel cell systems in commercial opportunities,” chairman Tim Yeo said.
“As we develop this commercial pipeline, our stakeholders will witness renewed emphasis on system and cartridge cost reductions to ensure our technology can operate in an increasingly competitive and efficient manner. To achieve this, we continue to review our supply chain and the scope for recycling our fuel cells, as well as opportunities to improve the design of key components and system engineering,” he added.