AFC Energy Plc (AFC) has announced that it has executed a term sheet with Dunsfold Park Ltd to commence Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) work on a landmark hydrogen micro-grid at the Dunsfold Park site in Surrey, UK.

AFC Energy PLC, a UK developer of fuel cell systems and Dunsfold Park Ltd, one of the UK’s largest residential and industrial brownfield redevelopment projects have executed a Term Sheet which seeks to deploy up to 1 – 1.5 MW of AFC’s fuel cell systems on site as part of a residential and industrial energy micro grid to meet the growing needs of the redeveloped site.
Dunsfold Park is home to AFC Energy’s head office, and under its site redevelopment Masterplan, is scheduling the development of an initial 1 800 new homes and green space, coexisting with light industry. The scheme expects to be supplied with “green hydrogen” sourced locally from biomethane supplied by an anaerobic digestion (AD) facility) making the proposition an entirely renewable and clean micro-grid.
According to a statement, the project could have application not only across the UK, but could also be replicated internationally across all brown and green field residential, commercial and industrial developments.
The clean micro-grid is entirely consistent with the Dunsfold Park renewable energy strategy and that of the UK Government’s industrial policy and policy of building more stability, flexibility and resilience into local power grids through the decarbonisation of the national power grid.
Power generation from the fuel cell facility in conjunction with the existing solar farm on site, will make Dunsfold Park the only Business Park in the UK with a micro grid supplied entirely by a combination of hydrogen and renewable derived energy, highlighting the importance and prominence of this project in the context of the UK energy market.
FEED start
AFC Energy will commence work on the front end engineering and design (FEED) in August 2017 to fully engineer and cost estimate the project to +/-10 percent cost accuracy before approval is given by both AFC Energy and Dunsfold Park.
We are delighted to be collaborating with AFC Energy, a long-time tenant of Dunsfold Park on this nationally significant hydrogen fuel cell project. We look forward to seeing the results of the FEED study and endorse the initiative’s full alignment with Dunsfold Park’s clean energy strategy which has permeated all of our redevelopment activities over the past few years. Initiatives such as this collaboration with AFC Energy further highlight Dunsfold, the Borough of Waverley and the County of Surrey’s prominence at the forefront of renewable energy technologies, said Jim McAllister, Chief Executive of Dunsfold Park Ltd.
The commercial terms of project ownership, power pricing and revenue sharing, expected to be in excess of GBP 25 million over the 20-year life of the project, will be developed in parallel. Furthermore, both parties are interested in considering different delivery and ownership models including a joint venture.
The timing for delivery of the project will be divided into multiple phases in recognition of the growth trajectory for new energy demand in conjunction with the site’s redevelopment initiatives. Indicatively, the parties hope to deliver the first 0.5 – 1 MW of installed generation capacity in Q4 2018 and the second tranche of installed power capacity by the end of Q3 2019.
As long-term tenants of Dunsfold Park, we are delighted to now be collaborating in the commercial deployment of AFC Energy’s fuel cell technology. The introduction of hydrogen derived from renewable sources is a particular highlight of the proposed scheme and re-emphasis the potential innovation in sourcing long term, sustainable hydrogen for our fuel cell projects. This scheme offers the potential for national and international replicability and could become a benchmark in localised hydrogen micro-grids. We look forward to working closely with Dunsfold Park in delivering this important clean energy initiative for the region, said Adam Bond, AFC Energy’s Chief Executive Officer.