$4.6M Fuel Cell Funding Available

The US Department of Energy’s Fuel Cell Technologies Office (FCTO) has made available up to $4.6 million for projects with industry and academia to support innovations in fuel cell and hydrogen fuel technologies.

The FCTO Incubator Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is intended to identify potentially impactful technologies that are not already addressed in FCTO’s strategic plan or project portfolio. Specific areas of interest include:

• Platinum Group Metal (PGM)-free catalysts and membrane electrode assemblies.
• Fuel cell-based electrochemical conversion devices for stationary energy storage.
• Completely innovative hydrogen production and delivery technologies to reach the DOE cost goal.
• Breakthrough, reversible hydrogen storage materials that operate at pressures of 350 bar or less.
• Hydrogen infrastructure: Manufacturing solutions for low-cost, standardized skid-mounted hydrogen fueling stations; and game-changing business models/financial approaches to address infrastructure costs (e.g., including soft costs).

In other fuel cell news, last month Areva, Smart Energies and the ADEME (French Environment and Energy Management Agency) formed a joint venture, Areva H2-Gen, to manufacture Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolysers, which will enable hydrogen to be produced from water and electricity.

Initially intended for industrial applications, PEM electrolysis is now targeting the renewable energy storage market to supply service stations with hydrogen for fuel cell vehicles or to supply natural gas networks, the partners say.