26 January 2024
AFC Energy
PLC
("AFC
Energy" or the "Company")
Funding Secured for Clean
Maritime Ammonia Cracker and Combustion Engine Integration
Trials
AFC Energy (AIM: AFC), a leading
provider of hydrogen power generation technologies, is pleased to
announce it has been awarded funding under the UK Government's
Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (Round 4) (CMDC4), funded
by the UK Department for Transport ("DfT") and delivered by
Innovate UK.
CMDC4 is part of DfT's UK Shipping
Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE) programme, a £206m
initiative focused on developing the technology necessary to
decarbonise the UK domestic maritime sector.
Highlights
· AFC
Energy led consortium awarded £676,500 to design and integrate its
proprietary ammonia cracker reactor technology with marine
purposed, ammonia fuelled internal combustion engines
("ICE").
· Ammonia
combustion is enhanced by the addition of an ammonia cracker,
allowing an engine to run on an energy dense fuel mix consisting of
hydrogen rich cracked gas and ammonia.
· The
demonstration if successful is targeting worldwide application
across maritime vessels seeking to adopt ammonia combustion as its
preferred zero carbon propulsion fuel.
· Programme Partners include international leaders in engine
design, MAHLE Powertrain (wholly owned subsidiary of global Tier 1
automotive supplier MAHLE GmbH), specially developed injectors and
control valves from Clean Air Power, with testing and evaluation
from the University of Nottingham.
· Industry
support from global shipping companies, Eastern Pacific Shipping
and Purus.
· Funding
commences Q1 2024 with results from the proof-of-concept
demonstration expected to be published twelve months
later.
· Ammonia
crackers integrated with combustion engines provide a scalable and
flexible route which could extend the lifetime of currently
deployed onboard combustion engine assets.
Significant investment has been made
by industry into multi-megawatt ammonia combustion engines designed
to support zero carbon emission propulsion of the largest of marine
vessels. The aim is for ICEs to be used on their own or in
partnership with fuel cell technologies to support both propulsion
and auxiliary power needs of the vessel.
However, ammonia is not a simple swap
in alternative fuel, there are several modifications that would be
required to support the combustion of ammonia in a typical
reciprocating engine - one of which is the addition of hydrogen to
increase the flame speed and improve other combustion properties of
the ammonia. By utilising an ammonia cracker, a Hydrogen rich
cracked gas stream could be generated on demand from a single fuel
source thus negating the need for multiple fuel storage
solutions.
The CMDC4 funding will evaluate the
feasibility of AFC Energy's ammonia cracker technology aimed at
improving the combustion and emissions of future ammonia fuelled
marine engines by supporting the development of a highly efficient
system that can be integrated with a multicylinder marine
combustion engine.
The Project partners will also
incorporate their next generation technologies to support the
integration and testing of the AFC Energy ammonia cracker with a
typical combustion engine.
The feasibility study would include
and measure the full impact of the cracker on engine combustion,
performance, fuel consumption and pollutant emissions compared to a
typical marine grade fuel. The project work will include formal
technical assessments of the practicality of the cracker system
across existing and future marine vessels of varying sizes and use,
and portside operations. The assessments will consider the impact
of the system on vessel design, performance, safety and
cost.
The aim of the project is to help to
rapidly accelerate the technology to market, with subsequent steps
progressing to full scale demonstration on an operating vessel
followed by commercialisation at global scale. In addition to
marine applications, the technology developed could also be used in
other applications such as large stationary power generators and
large off-road machinery, where AFC Energy is exploring multiple
partnerships across global OEMs in this sector.
The overall feasibility project cost
is forecast to be £975.5k, with grant funding awarded of £676.5k,
representing substantial value for money, especially considering
the broad project scope, including development and demonstration at
system level. The remaining balance will be funded by contributions
from each of the Programme Partners.
AFC Energy is the lead partner and
will provide expertise in ammonia cracking technology, adapted for
the unique use-cases of the maritime sector. Support from the
University of Nottingham and MAHLE Powertrain with access to their
test engine and facility, demonstrates a commitment to UK
innovation and supports development of intellectual property and
expertise to enable the UK to be at the forefront of energy
transition within the maritime sector.
The project is being supported by two
of the global maritime industry's leaders in the sustainable
transition, Eastern Pacific Shipping and Purus. Each are
active in their assessment of ammonia adoption and have agreed to
provide an industry review of the project, its progress, and
adoption potential in transport vessels and larger carriers
ships.
The funding programme is expected to
commence in the first quarter of 2024 and last twelve
months.
Adam
Bond, Chief Executive at AFC Energy, said:
"We
are pleased to have been recognised, along with our partners, by
the UK Government's CMDC4 funding programme, highlighting further
commercialization potential for our next generation ammonia cracker
reactor. AFC Energy has been engaging with international
shipyards, vessel owners, and designers over the past year and we
believe the adoption of ammonia as a decarbonisation maritime fuel
is yet another international market for our highly efficient
ammonia cracker reactor. We look forward to providing
industry with the results of this project and playing our role in
enabling the maritime sector to achieve its sustainability
targets."
For
further information, please contact:
AFC
Energy
plc
+44 (0) 14 8327 6726
Adam Bond (Chief Executive Officer)
investors@afcenergy.com
Peel
Hunt LLP - Nominated Adviser and Joint
Broker
Richard Crichton / Tom Ballard /
Georgia Langoulant
+44 (0) 207 418 8900
Zeus
- Joint Broker
David Foreman / James Hornigold
(Investment Banking)
Dominic King (Corporate Broking) /
Rupert Woolfenden (Sales)
+44 (0) 203 829 5000
RBC
Capital Markets - Joint
Broker
+44 (0) 20 7653 4000
Matthew Coakes / Teri Su
Eduardo Famini / Jack Wood
FTI
Consulting - Financial PR Advisors
+44
(0) 203 727 1000
Ben Brewerton / Tilly Abraham / Evie
Taylor
afcenergy@fticonsulting.com
About AFC Energy
AFC Energy plc is a leading provider
of hydrogen energy solutions, to provide clean electricity for on
and off grid power applications. The Company's fuel cell technology
is now deployable as electric vehicle chargers, off-grid
decentralised power systems for construction and temporary power
with emerging opportunities across maritime, data centres and rail
as part of a portfolio approach to the decarbonisation of society's
growing electrification needs.
About MAHLE Powertrain
A global leader in powertrain
engineering, including zero carbon internal combustion engines, as
well as electrified and hybridised systems. MAHLE Powertrain will
provide the advanced single cylinder research engine for use in the
experimentation, including novel jet-ignited combustion system and
fully configurable engine controller, as well as technical support
and system level simulation.
About Clean Air Power
An environmental technology company
providing advanced injectors and control valves for alternative
fuels, will be providing ammonia and cracked gas injectors to
precisely meter fuel gas mixtures into the test engines.
About University of Nottingham (Powertrain Research
Centre)
An Academic research centre of
excellence in internal combustion engine technologies; will be
providing the testing facilities and in-depth data analysis via
access to engine test cells at their state-of-the-art UK
laboratory.
Notes for Editors
In March 2022, the UK Government
announced the biggest government investment ever in our UK
commercial maritime sector, allocating £206m to UK SHORE, a new
programme within the Department for Transport focused on
decarbonising the maritime sector. UK SHORE is delivering a suite
of interventions throughout 2022-2025 aimed at accelerating the
design, manufacture and operation of UK-made clean maritime
technologies and unlocking an industry-led transition to Net
Zero.
The UK SHORE programme includes the
flagship multi-year Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC)
which provides match-funding to help bring pre-commercial
technologies closer to market readiness. CMDC4 allocated £33m to 33
projects across the UK to deliver demonstrations, pre-deployment
trials and feasibility studies between April 2024 - March 2025. The
projects are supported by over 120 partners and will leverage more
than £16m of private investment.
CMDC4 follows the successful first
three rounds of the CMDC, which allocated over £95m to 105
projects. CMDC1 was launched in 2021, prior to UK SHORE.
