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1 March 2022

AFC Energy PLC

("AFC Energy" or the "Company")

ACCIONA to Deploy First Hybrid Fuel Cell System in Spain     

AFC Energy (AIM: AFC), a leading provider of hydrogen power generation technologies, is pleased to provide an update on the status of the Company's fuel cell field deployment in Spain with partner, ACCIONA.      

Highlights

·      ACCIONA and AFC Energy have agreed to field deploy the Company' first Hybrid Fuel Cell ("HFC") system in Spain at a construction site north of Cadiz.  

·      The decision follows an update on AFC Energy's product roadmap presented to ACCIONA in November 2021.

·      The HFC system, announced as a new product line in December 2021 by AFC Energy, offers materially higher energy density versus the "L" Series that was initially proposed for deployment with ACCIONA. 

·      AFC Energy is currently building the first HFC system in the UK where it expects to be factory commissioned  before being shipped to Spain.  

·      The field deployment of the HFC system is part of ACCIONA's commitment to decarbonise its global portfolio of construction sites. 

·      The terms of the field deployment will mirror the cost sharing arrangements of the prior "L" Series demonstration which this now replaces.

ACCIONA is one of the world's leading construction contractors with a large portfolio of renewable energy projects worldwide. 

In 2020, ACCIONA and AFC Energy signed their first agreement to take alkaline fuel cell technology to the construction site to assess its ability to reduce carbon emissions through the adoption of carbon free fuels such as ammonia. 

Since this time, AFC Energy has advanced its portfolio of fuel cell technologies and product platforms and in November 2021, ACCIONA attended AFC Energy's UK offices to explore its new product and technology roadmap.  Importantly, as part of that visit, ACCIONA were able to witness a working ammonia cracker system supplying hydrogen (derived from ammonia) into an AFC Energy fuel cell system.

With a consistent interest in the adoption of zero emission, hydrogen carrier fuels such as green ammonia and green methanol, the two companies have now elected to replace the incumbent field demonstration programme, which previously employed AFC Energy's "L" Series fuel cell system, with the new, higher power dense HFC system at a fraction of the footprint. 

The HFC system builds on the architecture of AFC Energy's Anion Exchange Membrane ("AEM") system and, in due course, will leverage AFC Energy's ability to adopt green methanol as a fuel, complementing the AEM system's ability to accept green ammonia, maximising the fuel flex approach to lower cost hydrogen carrier fuels.

AFC Energy is currently manufacturing its first HFC system which is expected to be commissioned at the Company's Dunsfold (UK) facility before being dispatched to a construction site in the south of Spain. 

This will be the Company's first HFC system deployment and confirms immediate customer interest for the new technology platform.       

Dr. Miguel A. París, Head of the PMO & Sustainable Building & Industrial Area of the Construction R&D Centre at ACCIONA, said: "We have been impressed with the large strides achieved by AFC Energy over the past 18 months and seeing the product roadmap outlined by the Company for the construction industry made the decision to transition our trial to the more energy dense fuel cell technology a compelling one.  ACCIONA is proudly at the vanguard of industrial decarbonisation and we look forwards to working with AFC Energy in providing zero emission power solutions to the meet the global challenge of achieving Net Zero".  

Adam Bond, Chief Executive Officer at AFC Energy, said: "AFC Energy's partnership with ACCIONA is key in demonstrating commercially and technically viable, yet sustainable, power generation solutions that meet the ambitious emission reduction agenda of the global off-grid power market.  Our new HFC technology platform is one of several new products we are introducing to provide industry with higher energy density, reduced footprint and higher efficiency fuel cell systems that support the decarbonisation of off-grid power and construction sites.  We very much look forwards to continuing our partnership with ACCIONA as part of this field deployment this year." 

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About AFC Energy

AFC Energy plc is commercialising scalable "fuel flexible" fuel cell systems, to provide clean electricity for on and off grid applications. The technology, pioneered over the past twelve years in the UK, is now deployable in electric vehicle chargers, off-grid decentralised power systems and data centre applications with emerging opportunities across maritime and rail as part of a portfolio approach to the decarbonisation of local electricity needs.