Description

The scope of the project is to make a contribution for changing the development of renewable energy sources (RES) fuel cell household systems (FCHS) from R&D also to include market development and in this way accelerate the development of the technology and its economic performance.

The specific goal is in a report to describe minimum 20 regional markets for RES-FCHS with an aggregated market of  minimum 3,000 RES-FCHS units to be realized in 2006-07 or in the near future after. By cooperation between the regional RES-FCHS markets, the regional markets shall be used for driving down the costs of RES-FCHS to a level of maximum 5,000 EURO/kWe, e.g. by “pooling” of the regional markets to have a positive effect of scale. Lessons from the successful European technology and market development of wind turbines will be transferred into the RES-FCHS sector, making EU a driver of the Global RES-FCHS development.

The RES-FCHS comprises:

• Biogas/fuel cells

• Methanol/fuel cells

• “Excess wind”- H₂/fuel cells – excess wind from regions with high wind penetration and problems of integrating the wind into the regional electricity system

• 12 partners from 7 countries representing universities, technological know how centres, suppliers of RES-FCHS and a know-how network carry out the project.

Work Programme

The proposed action will be carried out in a matrix organization with a number of work packages, which are main phases according to progress of time of the project. The work packages being:

1. Coordination – for the whole project

2. Status on RES-FCHS technology and regional market development
3.  10 regional RES-FCHS market development plans
4.  Developing an aggregated market of 3,000 RES-FCHS units
5. Improving technical performance of RES-FCHS
6. Dissemination activities
7. Common (EC) dissemination activities

Each work package will have a leader, specific deliverables, outcomes and budgets.  

The tasks are carried out on cross of the work packages as activities on specific subjects connected to RES-FCHS, typically with one partner executing the activities of each task, e.g. biogas/fuel cell systems. The tasks are carried out by the following partners of the proposed action:

•  The regional overall energy systems, including energy system efficiency and regional market potentials – Aalborg University (DK)

• Fuel cells state of the art –  IRD (DK)

• System integration of fuel cell systems - University of Iceland (IS)

• Fuel cell systems, practical implementation – Dantherm (DK)

• Electrolyser systems – BIC (PL)

• Biogas/FCH market potentials – IBBK (DE)

• Biogas/fuel cells state of the art – KIBZ, (DE)

• Methanol/ethanol/fuel cell systems state of the art – Elsam (DK)

• Wind/H₂/fuel cells state of the art – Cener, (ES)

• Market potentials for fuel cells – ISR, University of Coimbra (PT)

Some of the partners also can make contributions in sectors others than the tasks mentioned, e.g. ECN Clean Fossil Fuels and ECN Fuel Cell Technology has much expertise in the field of RES FCHS.