Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited [AIM/ASX: CFU], a leading developer of high efficiency and low emission electricity generation units for homes and other buildings, has sold another BlueGen power and heating unit in Germany, to leading German gas utility E.ON Ruhrgas.
E.ON Ruhrgas AG is part of the E.ON Group and is responsible for the European gas business from exploration, transmission and supply to major customers. With a purchasing and sales volume of approximately 700 billion kWh of gas and revenue of 27 billion Euros a year, E.ON Ruhrgas is one of the leading gas companies in Europe and the largest in Germany.
From Q2 2010 E.ON Ruhrgas will operate a BlueGen unit at its micro power and heating test facility in Essen, Germany.
Ceramic Fuel Cells is also working with E.ON UK, another member of the E.ON Group, to deploy fully integrated power and heating products in the United Kingdom market.
About the size of a dishwasher, each BlueGen unit can produce twice the electricity needed to power an average home, with the surplus electricity sold back to the grid. BlueGen also produces heat, to make enough hot water for an average home. BlueGen units can generate electricity more efficiently than the current European power grid, significantly reducing a home's carbon emissions and cutting energy bills.
Ceramic Fuel Cells has achieved electrical efficiency of 60 percent, far higher than any other technology in the rapidly expanding market for small scale power and heating generators. When heat is recovered from the electricity production process, total efficiency is up to 85 percent - twice as efficient as the average among current European power stations.
By generating power close to where it is used, Ceramic Fuel Cells' products can meet the future demand for electricity without the need for huge investments in electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure.
The order from E.ON Ruhrgas follows recent BlueGen orders from other German utilities RheinEnergie and EWE, and Dutch gas utility Gasterra, as well as customers in Australia and Japan. Ceramic Fuel Cells has also deployed fully integrated power and heating products with leading energy company Suez GDF in France.
CFU Price at posting:
16.3¢ Sentiment: LT Buy Disclosure: Held