£7.2 million for hydrogen, fuel-cell innovation

Companies that can develop hydrogen and fuel-cell technology for low-carbon transport and power generation can now bid for a portion of £7.2 million in funding being offered by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).

The competition is one of the measures for stimulating low-carbon technologies that were announced in this year’s budget.

Companies will be able to bid to the Technology Strategy Board, which will manage the programme, for a share of the cash to develop and test the technology.

Hydrogen and fuel cells have the potential to help drastically reduce carbon emissions because they only emit water and heat as by-products. The energy conversion in fuel cells is more efficient than those of other technologies such as the internal combustion engine.

“The UK has the right combination of expertise, ingenuity and determination to bring hydrogen and fuel cell technology to the global market,” said Energy and Climate Change Minister David Kidney. “We’re providing real help now to help advance this technology in the UK, keeping us at the forefront of advanced green manufacturing.”

The hydrogen and fuel cell programme could support projects to:

• Facilitate the demonstration of a fleet of fuel-cell and hydrogen vehicles;
• Facilitate the demonstration of residential micro-combined heat and power (CHP) and distributed power generation products based on fuel cells and hydrogen technologies;
• Facilitate the demonstration of production of hydrogen from non-carbon sources and its use as an energy carrier;
• Facilitate the development of scalable processes and equipment for the mass manufacture and testing of fuel cells and fuel cells modules; and
• Enable in-line product testing and testing for performances and reliability under realistic operating conditions.