Industrial fuel cell power company AFC Energy has commissioned and commenced operation of its first KORE fuel cell system in Stade, Germany.

When fully operational in late 2015, the fuel cell system will be the world’s largest alkaline fuel cell system operating at an industrial facility selling power into the national electricity grid.

Following a week long commissioning of the fuel cell system at Stade, AFC introduced hydrogen into the fuel cells on 31 July 2015 to achieve a peak output of 7.56 kW from a single operational cartridges (one of 24).

When the original milestones were devised and announced to the market on 8 December, the initial output target of the KORE by the end of July 2015 was set at 7.5kW to 15kW, however this was based on a forecast of two cartridges.

This milestone has been achieved with the cartridges validated by AFC in February 2015 at the required flow and operational settings.

The company said Phase 2, which was initially envisaged as commencing in Quarter 4 2015, can now be further accelerated, with AFC selling power into the German grid through its Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Stadtwerke Stade.

Adam Bond, chief executive officer of AFC, acknowledged host partners, Air Products, and contractors and sub-contractors in “establishing not only the permitting and regulatory compliance of the system in Germany, but also delivering the civils, utilities, buildings and associated infrastructure for the KORE system at a remarkable pace in the face of many challenges”.

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