Fuel Cell

Air Products and Chemicals Inc (APD) has been selected for three demonstration projects by the California South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) for fueling stations to be placed in Burbank, Riverside and Santa Ana in 2005. Air Products will be collaborating with Proton Energy Systems, Inc. (DESC) on two of the fueling stations. Each city will operate its station following fueling process and safety training by Air Products.

I placed several trades for the mutual fund this afternoon to start building a position in some of the fuel cell companies. This sub-sector has been under pressure the last couple of months but seems to be building a nice base of support at the current levels. I feel this entire sub-sector is ready for a nice up move and the stocks have been behaving nicely the last week or so. The one stock I seriously considered not adding was Quantum. The stock has been in a steady decline and there is no sign that it’s going to slow...

Fuelcell Energy Inc (FCEL) announced the siting of a 250-kilowatt Direct FuelCell® (DFC®) power plant to operate on anaerobic digester gas from a food recycling facility at the Tokyo "Super Eco Town" Project in Japan. Marubeni, Asian partner of fuel cell developer FuelCell Energy, will supply the power plant to Bioenergy Co. of Japan who will own and operate the unit. The DFC power plant will provide approximately 50 percent of the facility's base load electricity requirements, and the heat will be converted to process steam for the recycling operations. Shipment is expected in the first half of calendar...

Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide Inc (QTWW) fell as much as 10% after the company posted second-quarter results that fell below expectations. They posted a loss of 10 cents a share on sales of about $5 million vs. a loss of 9 cents a share on sales of $6.7 million a year ago. Analysts were expecting a loss of 6 cents a share on sales of $8.6 million. The company said the sales decline was due to lower product sales in its fuel cell systems segment. Shares are now trading off the lows and are currently only down 6%....

Stuart Energy Systems Corp (SRNYF) announced that it has been awarded approximately $300,000 in funding from Natural Resources Canada, through the Canadian Transportation Fuel Cell Alliance (CTFCA) program, for the preliminary engineering of three electrolysis-based hydrogen-fueling stations. These stations, when built, are intended to support demonstration projects involving hydrogen-powered shuttle buses. The targeted locations for these projects are in Ottawa and Toronto, Ontario, and in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. These projects will develop market familiarity and consumer acceptance for hydrogen-powered vehicles and hydrogen fueling infrastructure, and ultimately facilitate the commercialization of these technologies. Phase 1 of the project...

Plug Power Inc (PLUG) announced that it is terminating a distribution joint venture with a unit of General Electric Co. and said a GE executive had resigned from its board. Plug Power said it and GE MicroGen Inc. would terminate the GE Fuel Cell Systems joint venture. As a result, Plug Power can now sell its products to anyone without obligation to General Electric, the company said in a regulatory filing. Shares of Plug Power are down 1% in pre-market trading.

by Debra Fiakas CFA The New Year got off to a rocky start for Ballard Power Systems (BLDP:  Nasdaq), a developer of fuel cell technologies and systems.  The company ran into some trouble with its strategy to penetrate the China market through a partner.  No one should be surprised by Ballard’s difficulties.  Fuel cell technology has been under development for more than two decades.  Frankly, technology is not the problem  -  at least any more.  Early on developers were beset by numerous challenges, not the least of which was the problem of getting fuel cells to work properly...

Hoku Scientific, Inc. (HOKU) maintained an "outperform" rating and $12 target price from a Piper Jaffray analyst. "Hoku will continue to record substantial revenue growth driven by accelerated technology development in preparation for commercial markets," Piper analyst Jesse W. Pichel wrote in a recent report. I'm still waiting for Marketocracy to add this ticker to the stock universe so I can buy it for the mutual fund. If I had additional money in my personal portfolio, I would purchase more at this level.

BTU International, Inc. (BTUI) announced the receipt of an order, valued at approximately $2 million, for an integrated manufacturing line for solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) manufacturing. The order is from one of the largest European-based, global leaders in fuel cell technology. This order for a turnkey production line for manufacturing solid oxide fuel cells features multiple Convection Heat Treat drying systems and BTU's unique Elevator Hearth System for high temperature sintering. The order also includes multiple screen-printing systems, a laser marking and bar code reading system as well as the automated handling equipment to fully automate the...

United Technologies Corporation (UTX) has renamed the PC25(TM), the industry's foremost 'workhorse' fuel cell power system, to the PureCell(TM) 200. UTC Power has been producing the on-site power plant since 1991. The system generates 200 kW of clean, reliable electricity and 900,000 BTUs of usable heat suitable for co-generation applications. With a five-year continuous duty cell stack durability and 85 percent efficiency, the PureCell(TM) 200 sets the standard for fuel cell reliability and efficiency. The PureCell(TM) 200 technology has been installed in 19 countries on five continents, ranging from a New York City police station to a science center...

BOC Group PLC (BOX) has been awarded a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grant for a 3-year, $3.8 million project to develop an advanced hydrogen generation and delivery system. BOC, as the project leader, is partnering with Canada-based Membrane Reactor Technologies (MRT) and HERA Hydrogen Storage Systems Inc. (HERA) to develop and demonstrate advanced hydrogen generation and delivery systems that integrate MRT's membrane reactor and HERA's thermal hydride compression into a single package. The companies are working to develop a solution for the economic and technical challenge of delivering low-cost, high-purity hydrogen to industrial users, vehicles and stationary/mobile...

Millennium Cell Inc (MCEL) announced that it has received notices of allowance from the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office for U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2003/0037487 A1 entitled "Portable Hydrogen Generator" and U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2004/0067195 A1 entitled "Self-Regulating Hydrogen Generator."

Hydrogenics Corp (HYGS) announced that it has been successful in its offer to acquire Stuart Energy Systems Corp (SRNYF). 31,382,226 Stuart Energy shares, representing approximately 86% of the issued and outstanding Stuart Energy shares (80% on a fully diluted basis), have been deposited to the Offer. The Offer was made at an exchange ratio of 0.74 Hydrogenics shares for every Stuart Energy share.

ChevronTexaco Technology Ventures LLC (CTTV), a subsidiary of ChevronTexaco Corp. (CVX), unveiled its first Chevron Hydrogen energy station today at the Hyundai-Kia America Technical Center in California. ChevronTexaco is working with United Technologies Corporation (UTX) UTC Fuel Cells' equipped demonstration vehicles. At today's grand opening ceremony, racing legend Mario Andretti drove a Hyundai Tucson, equipped with a UTC Fuel Cells' 80-kilowatt, all-weather proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell power plant, to the new hydrogen fueling dispenser.

Hydrogenics Corp (HYGS) announced that it has received orders to supply electrolysis-based hydrogen generator plants to two of China's largest energy companies. China Electric Power Energy Group and China National Power have each purchased a HySTAT-A Hydrogen Plant, capable of producing 10 Nm3/h of high purity hydrogen at a pressure of 25 bar. In both cases, the hydrogen produced will be used to cool the generators in a coal-fired power plant. Delivery of both orders is expected to take place in 2006.

IdaTech (IDA) has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Rittal Corp. at CeBit in Hannover, Germany. IdaTech's ElectraGen(TM)5 fuel cell system was unveiled at the CeBit electronics show last week by Rittal, a global supplier of enclosure systems for industrial, electronic, telecommunication, and data communication equipment. The system's backup power features are on display at the show one of the world's leading events for showcasing new information and telecommunications technologies, and supporting software and services. The IdaTech and Rittal partnership is worldwide and includes integration of the IdaTech fuel cells technologies with Rittal's telecommunications and information technology...