"Virtual power plant" field test with fuel-cell heating appliances starts

Fuel-cell technology in decentralised home power and heating supply enters a new stage today with the beginning of a European field test project. Focusing on the question of how fuel-cell heating appliances (FCHA) - networked as a virtual power plant – can be run, a total of 31 Vaillant fuel-cell heating appliances have been installed in several European countries and linked with each other via a control centre. Jörg Hennerkes, State Secretary in the Ministry of Transport, Energy and Regional Planning of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), officially started the field test at Vaillant in Remscheid together with representatives of the 11 test partner companies and international guests from politics, academia and media. The project is promoted by the 5th research and development framework programme of the European Commission.

Key highlights:
• Field test started with 31 fuel-cell heating

  appliances installed in flat blocks, small

  businesses and public facilities
• European Commission providing over 30%

  of  project funding
• 11 international test partners
• Appliances installed in Germany, the 

  Netherlands, Spain and Portugal

State Secretary Jörg Hennerkes emphasised the great importance placed in the development of marketable fuel-cell technology in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, which, with its fuel-cell competence network had a highly-effective information platform for this trailblazing technology. Vaillant Managing Director Dr Michel Brosset said he was very pleased by the successful cooperation with the international development partners that the project had proved. "On this basis an important step has been achieved in the development of heat-power cogeneration with highly-efficient fuel-cells," he said. Bertus Postmus, Marketing Manager Natural Gas Sales of Gasunie, the partner company and leading gas supplier in the Netherlands, explained that particularly in his country, which played a pioneer role in Europe in the use of environment-friendly heating technology, the operation of fuel-cell heating appliances was a realistic and sensible option for the future. Dr Werner Brinker, Chairman of the board of the energy supply company EWE AG, was connected with the event by live video transmission from a FCHA test building in Oldenburg. He pointed out the valuable experience gained by the field test in the practical running of fuel-cell heating appliances and testing of a decentralised energy management. The highlight of the event, the signal for the start-up of the virtual power station with fuel-cell heating appliances, was then given by NRW State Secretary Jörg Hennerkes.

The following companies are participating in the international field test: the heating technology company VAILLANT (D); the fuel-cell manufacturer PLUG POWER Holland (NL / USA); the gas supply company RUHRGAS (D); the energy supply company E.ON Energie (D); the energy supply company EWE (D); the gas supplier GASUNIE (NL); the association for heat-power cogeneration COGEN EUROPE (B); the INSTITUTI SUPERIOR TECNICO Higher Technical Institute at the University of Lisbon (P); the INSTITUTE FOR TECHNOLOGY OF ENERGY SUPPLY AND ENERGY SYSTEMS at the University of Duisburg-Essen (D); the DEUTSCHES ZENTRUM of LUFT- UND RAUMFAHRT German Aerospace in Almería (E); the heating and air-conditioning installation company SISTEMAS DE CALOR (E); and the energy supply company EAM Energieplus in Kassel (D).

The field test project, which is seen as one of the European Union's most important benchmark projects for fuel-cell technology, is expected to end in March 2005. The European Commission is contributing more than Euro 3 million to the total costs of Euro 8.6 million. The appliances, each of which have an output of about 4.6 kW of electrical energy and generates up to 11 kW of heat, have been installed in flat blocks, small businesses and public facilities. In Germany, installations are operating in, among other places, Remscheid, Oldenburg, Cuxhaven, Baunatal near Kassel, and Hilden near Düsseldorf. In the Netherlands, the test locations include Groningen, Amersfoort and The Hague. Further systems follow in Almería, Spain, and in Lisbon, Portugal.

The development project is about testing fuel-cell heating appliances in decentral home-energy supply. The objective is to network the systems and control them centrally. As a virtual power station, the installations are to contribute to decentralising electricity supply and thereby generate power and heat directly at the point of consumption without loss of output. The project is also testing whether the centrally managed fuel-cell heating appliances, which are connected to national grids, can in future contribute to optimising grid power generation. In addition, the project is an important milestone in driving fuel-cell heating appliances a substantial step forward on the path to market maturity. Demanding tests under practical conditions in various environments should prove how this technology will meet the relevant technical standards and customer demands with regard to reliability, profitability and reduction of CO2 emissions



Contact
Ebrulf Zuber
Head of Corporate Communications
Vaillant GmbH
D-42850 Remscheid
Tel: +49 (0)2191 18-2754
Fax:+49 (0)2191 18-2895
Mobile: +49 (0)175 295 15 80
e-mail: ebrulf.zuber@vaillant.de