Bosch boosts stake in UK hydrogen solid oxide fuel cell maker
The deal allows Bosch the right to appoint a Non-Executive Director to the board of Ceres Power, based in Horsham, UK, which develops solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology,
The deal involved selling new shares and raised £38.0m for Ceres to expand its technology into complementary areas including potential solid oxide electrolysis applications where fuel cell technology is used to generate hydrogen from splitting water..
Since signing the original strategic agreement in August 2018, Bosch and Ceres have been collaborating in the development of fuel-cell stacks for stationary applications. This enabled Bosch to start initial low-volume production of pilot fuel-cell systems in autumn 2019 in Germany. It is intended that the increased stake will further support the collaboration towards future potential scale up and mass manufacture of the Ceres SteelCell® for multiple applications including small power stations to be used in cities, factories, data centers and charge points for electric vehicles.
“Bosch strongly believes that the highly efficient solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) has an important role to play in energy systems’ security of supply and flexibility,” said Dr. Christian Fischer, member of the Bosch management board and responsible for the Energy and Building Technology business sector. “Bosch, together with our development partner Ceres Power, has made good progress in the development of fuel-cell stacks for stationary power applications. With this enlarged investment in Ceres Power, we intend to further strengthen our successful collaboration with our development partner Ceres Power.”
“We welcome this further investment by Bosch which will support the continued evolution of our technology as we look to play an increasingly prominent role in tackling climate change and building a sustainable energy system for the future. We have established a successful partnership with Bosch by combining Ceres’ unique SteelCell technology with Bosch’s engineering, manufacturing, and supply chain strength. This new investment will allow us to build on the strong momentum we have generated in recent years to further scale the business and expand into new applications,” said Phil Caldwell, CEO of Ceres Power.
Ceres is commercialising its technology through licensing for mass production with partners, and using the technology for grid-based and distributed power generation.
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