Danish developer and manufacturer of methanol fuel cells (MFC) Blue World Technologies ApS has announced the start of series production. All production lines for the core fuel cell components have been established and run in, allowing lower production costs and higher speed while increasing production quality.
The methanol fuel cell production facility, which initially has an annual production capacity of 250 000 individual fuel cells, is located in an industrial area at the Port of Aalborg in Denmark.
With the start of series production, we have achieved our biggest milestone to date and are one step closer to replacing conventional combustion engines with our climate-friendly fuel cell technology, said Anders Korsgaard, Co-Founder and CEO at Blue World Technologies.
Expandable production capacity
The production capacity corresponds to a total output of 15 MW, which is expected to be expanded to 50 MW in the next few years. Over time, the production capacity can be expanded tenfold – to 500 MW – on the existing site.
BWT currently employs 120 staff, a figure that is expected to double within the next few years.
When BWT was founded in 2018 it was with a strong determination to industrialize the methanol fuel cells bringing the technology from laboratory production to large-scale production.
Over the course of the past four years, the company has developed new production processes and equipment and has established a state-of-the-art fuel cell manufacturing facility securing in-house production of all core components of the fuel cell stack.
Besides the production of the core fuel cell components; membrane, electrode, and separator plates, the factory holds the assembly of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA), fuel cell stack, and methanol-reformer as well as system assembly of fuel cell systems for stationary power generation.
Competitive production
The fuel cells are based on high-temperature (operating at 160-180°C) Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (HT PEM) technology that has a high resistance to impurities which means that no gas purification is needed on the reformat gas.
When powered by renewable methanol, the methanol fuel cells have a net-zero operation with no NOx, SOx, or particulate matter (PM) emissions.
Throughout the development and establishment of the facility, the focus has been on lowering production costs and time while ensuring high-quality components.
An example of this is the separator plates, where the company has succeeded in reducing the production time of the plates by ten times with a potential for further reduction in cost and time.
The high energy efficiency of the methanol fuel cell enables the competitive use of e-fuels, which still have a green premium compared to fossil fuels. We are thus making an active contribution to the green transition, Anders Korsgaard said.
Stationary and maritime applications
Unique for the HT PEM fuel cells is the potential for waste heat utilization where part of the waste heat from the fuel cell is used to drive the process of reforming methanol and thereby optimize the total system efficiency.
Furthermore, waste heat can also be used for additional energy recovery.
The fuel cells have a high electrical efficiency of 40 to 60 percent depending on the market and specific application. BWT ’s targeted markets are within remote and stationary applications such as mobile phone masts and the maritime sector.
For the stationary market, the company is making a diesel genset replacement in the size 5 to 15 kW. For the maritime market, the company is developing a high-power methanol fuel cell-based auxiliary power unit (APU).
Furthermore, BWT will also be supplying fuel cell stacks through corporate partnerships for system integrations into various applications.
The company is supported by a strong investor base which includes the Bill Gates-founded Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the German engine manufacturer DEUTZ AG, and Vaekstfonden, the Sovereign Investment Fund of Denmark.
