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European field trials for residential fuel cell micro-CHP kick off

Date

28 Sep 2012

Sections

Energy

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