Fuel Cells: Commercialisation, Key Findings from the Fuel Cell Today Industry Review 2008

The Fuel Cell Today Industry Review was launched in 2008 as an annual benchmarking report on worldwide fuel cell activity.

Volume 1 of the report was published in 2008 and uses a range of market based metrics, including manufacturing capability, government funding and units shipped to look at the level of commercialisation of the industry.

Findings from the 2007 Review include: last year the fuel cell industry has seen a growth of 75% in new units delivered, with some 12,000 new fuel cell units shipped during 2007. Fuel Cell Today believes that the current global manufacturing capability for fuel cells is around 100,000 units per annum, with a quarter of this coming from companies whose business activity is exclusively the development of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. Fuel Cell Today believes that the current commercial opportunities for fuel cells favour the low temperature electrolytes, Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (DMFCs) and Proton Exchange Membranes (PEMs) with over 98% of manufacturing today being low temperature units. The cost of PEM products currently varies from £1,500 ($3,000) per kW for a 5 kW unit up to £17,000 ($34,000) per kW for a micro 100 W fuel cell. Annual cost reductions of between 10 and 20% are currently being reported.

The Review also shows that Government funding for RD&D topped £500 million ($1,000 million) during 2007 with seven countries making up £400 million ($800 million) of this funding. This has helped to support development of fuel cells for stationary and transport applications, while funding for portable fuel cells has come mainly from the private sector.

The last three years have seen the commercialisation of a number of fuel cell products in the luxury end of the market. Currently, fuel cells are relatively expensive and there are a number of issues still outstanding in terms of research, development and demonstration (RD&D), codes and standards, and fuel infrastructure/distribution. However, price reductions are expected as manufacturing costs fall and subsidies for adoption become available.

This presentation will present a concise overview of the key findings from the Fuel Cell Today Industry Review 2008, Fuel Cells Commercialisation.  The proposed presentation will cover the four key areas of:
1. Market Development 2005 – 2007,
2. Funding FY07,
3. Policy and Legislation, and
4. Outlook
for stationary, transport and portable applications. The presentation will also cover a short section on fuel cell finance.