Another missed opportunity by management, the Ceres product...

Another missed opportunity by management, the Ceres product still needs a lot of work, but this is what CFU should be doing in Korea/Japan, etc - licensing agreement while the local partner does all the hard work!!

Ceres Power Partners with South Korea’s Largest Boiler Manufacturer for Domestic Fuel Cell Product

22 JUL 2013

Ceres GenericCeres Power has signed a new commercial and technical partnership agreement with KD Navien, South Korea’s largest manufacturer and installer of boilers and a major exporter of boilers to other markets, notably the USA.

Under the terms of the agreement, KD Navien will undertake trials of Ceres Power’s 1 kW natural-gas-fuelled fuel cell module at its testing facility in Seoul and will engage in the first stages of design for a domestic commercial micro-CHP product based on the technology, with a model for other territories a later possibility. Ceres Power will provide hardware and technical support to KD Navien throughout. Upon the successful completion of the technology assessment, the two companies intend to enter into a licensing agreement for the manufacture and distribution of a domestic product.

South Korea is one of the largest domestic boiler markets in the world, with annual sales of approximately one million, and represents a significant opportunity for fuel cell micro-CHP products, not least thanks to the government incentives in place for the deployment of fuel cells, which has encouraged domestic utility POSCO Energy to install fuel cell plants as large as 60 MW.

Alan Aubrey, Chairman of Ceres Power, commented: "We are delighted to be delivering on our stated strategy with the announcement of our first significant commercial agreement since the Company's change of strategy. KD Navien is the ideal partner to integrate the Ceres technology into products for the Korean residential CHP market.

The largest residential gas boiler manufacturer in Korea, with the largest market share in the domestic residential gas boiler market, KD Navien brings brand strength, market access, cost-effective manufacturing and significant engineering resources to ensure successful CHP commercialisation in the Korean market. Both companies have a shared view of the market opportunity and the desire to take innovative and cost effective solutions to our customers. We are excited to have signed this agreement with KDN and very much look forward to working with them."

Ceres Power had suffered years of setbacks in trying to integrate its SOFC stack technology into a viable consumer product for a British Gas field trial in the UK and earlier this year repositioned its business strategy and attracted new investment by returning to its core strength: the fuel cell stack and the components within. More experienced third-party OEMs and integrators (like KD Navien) can now partner with the company to realise commercial products.

The KD Navien agreement is the first such partnership since the change in business strategy. Ceres Power is also looking for a European partner in order to deliver products for its European trial commitments, including the British Gas trial and the ene.field project.

See more at: http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/news-events/news-archive/2013/july/ceres-power-partners-with-south-korea%E2%80%99s-largest-boiler-manufacturer-for-domestic-fuel-cell-product#sthash.CdUeXtfR.dpuf