Today, in the presence of the European Commission’s Hydrogen Fuel Cells Joint Undertaking, 27 partners gathered at the Palais des Académies, Brussels, to kick off the ene.field project.

This EU co-funded project brings together 9 European micro fuel cell Combined Heat and Power (micro FC-CHP) manufactures who will deliver trials across all of the available technologies. By learning the practicalities of installing and supporting a fleet of fuel cells with real customers and with the support of 24 utilities, housing providers and municipalities, ene.field is a flagship partnership towards commercialisation of micro FC-CHP installations. The project will deploy approximately 1,000 residential installations in 12 EU Member States, establish the macro-economics and CO2 savings of the technologies in the European markets, and assess the socio-economic barriers to widespread deployment of micro FC-CHP.

To achieve its target of 20% energy savings by 2020, the EU needs to step up its efforts on energy efficiency, in particular with regard to the residential sector, which accounts for 27% of total EU energy consumption. New properties can be designed and built to integrate a range of low-energy technologies, but for existing properties heat demand remains high and the ability to retro-fit many renewable technologies is physically limited. For much of the existing housing stock micro-CHP is therefore the next generation solution, with micro FC-CHP as the next technology step for this sector. With the right policy and support measures, micro FC-CHP can therefore be a key enabler for the EU to deliver on its energy objectives of competitiveness, sustainability and security of energy supply.

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For more information please contact COGEN Europe, the Project Coordinator of ene.field:

Dr Fiona Riddoch, Managing Director

Tel: +32 2 772 8290 Fax: + 32 2 772 5044 Email: fiona.riddoch@cogeneurope.eu

Stefan Craenen, Communication Manager Tel: +32 2 772 8290 Fax: + 32 2 772 5044

Email: stefan.craenen@cogeneurope.eu