Press Release
ACAL Energy Completes Funding Round
£3.5 million Raised in First Close
19 May 2010
Cheshire, UK – May 19 2010 – ACAL Energy, the developer of affordable and reliable Fuel Cell Engines based on platinum free FlowCath® technology, has completed a funding round worth £3.5 million that will provide a strong boost to the development of its core FlowCath® technology. Additional investment funds are expected in a second close later this summer.
The funding has been raised from existing investors, led by Carbon Trust Investments and supported by Solvay SA, Porton Capital and a leading Japanese automotive corporation. The funds will be used to complete development of ACAL Energy’s ground breaking FlowCath® platinum-free cathode technology and introduce first commercial offerings. An OEM evaluation kit is planned for availability later this year and a first Fuel Cell Engine product incorporating FlowCath® will be sampled to prospective customers in 2011.
ACAL Energy believes its FlowCath® technology is ready for application in small and medium sized stationary power applications, replacing diesel generators in back-up power systems, combined heat and power (CHP) installations and remote power uses. Larger-scale stationary power and transport applications are planned for the future.
“This further investment by our institutional financial and strategic investors is a strong endorsement of our technology and our Company”, says Dr SB Cha, CEO of ACAL Energy. “It recognises our recent progress and the significant market potential we see for low cost, reliable fuel cell engines.”
Jonathan Bryers, Partner at CT Investment Partners said “We are delighted to be leading a further investment round into Acal Energy following extensive technical and cost due diligence and welcome the continued support of Solvay and our other co-investors. We are excited at the opportunity we see with Acal as a UK clean energy technology company that can provide break-through cost and performance benefits in an internationally competitive field”.
Over the last year, ACAL Energy has achieved several important milestones, including achieving a peak power density of nearly 800mW/cm2, the development of new, potentially higher performance, chemical systems, and the scale up from a 50W integrated system to a 1.5kW laboratory demonstration system. In March, a model hydrogen fuel cell system was launched to great acclaim at Japan’s FC EXPO.
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For further information, please contact:
Amanda Lyne, ACAL Energy
Tel: +44 (0)1928 511581
Email : alyne@acalenergy.co.uk
Editorial contact:
Terry Nicklin, KeynotePR Ltd
Tel: +44 (0)7923 540695
Email: terry@keynotepr.com
Notes to Editors:
(Pictures available)
About ACAL Energy Limited
ACAL Energy is a developer of a new fuel cell technology that will enable
low cost and highly reliable fuel cell systems for a wide variety of applications. The
company was founded in August 2004 by FlowCath® inventor Dr Andrew Creeth
and is headquartered in Runcorn, UK.
Fuel cells are a highly efficient and clean energy production technology capable of replacing combustion engines in applications including remote and distributed power and residential cogeneration, as well as automotive and mobile power applications. FlowCath® replaces the expensive precious metal catalyst found in conventional fuel cells with a proprietary low cost liquid catalyst. This not only reduces the cost of the fuel cell, but also provides significant durability and reliability benefits through system simplification and the elimination of the most common failure mechanisms found in standard fuel cells.
FlowCath® is a registered trademark of ACAL Energy Ltd.
www.acalenergy.co.uk