26 January 2024

AFC Energy PLC

("AFC Energy" or the "Company")

Funding Secured for Clean Maritime Ammonia Cracker and Combustion Engine Integration Trials

AFC Energy (AIM: AFC), a leading provider of hydrogen power generation technologies, is pleased to announce it has been awarded funding under the UK Government's Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (Round 4) (CMDC4), funded by the UK Department for Transport ("DfT") and delivered by Innovate UK.  

CMDC4 is part of DfT's UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE) programme, a £206m initiative focused on developing the technology necessary to decarbonise the UK domestic maritime sector.

Highlights

·      AFC Energy led consortium awarded £676,500 to design and integrate its proprietary ammonia cracker reactor technology with marine purposed, ammonia fuelled internal combustion engines ("ICE").

·      Ammonia combustion is enhanced by the addition of an ammonia cracker, allowing an engine to run on an energy dense fuel mix consisting of hydrogen rich cracked gas and ammonia.

·      The demonstration if successful is targeting worldwide application across maritime vessels seeking to adopt ammonia combustion as its preferred zero carbon propulsion fuel. 

·      Programme Partners include international leaders in engine design, MAHLE Powertrain (wholly owned subsidiary of global Tier 1 automotive supplier MAHLE GmbH), specially developed injectors and control valves from Clean Air Power, with testing and evaluation from the University of Nottingham. 

·      Industry support from global shipping companies, Eastern Pacific Shipping and Purus. 

·      Funding commences Q1 2024 with results from the proof-of-concept demonstration expected to be published twelve months later.

·      Ammonia crackers integrated with combustion engines provide a scalable and flexible route which could extend the lifetime of currently deployed onboard combustion engine assets.

Significant investment has been made by industry into multi-megawatt ammonia combustion engines designed to support zero carbon emission propulsion of the largest of marine vessels.  The aim is for ICEs to be used on their own or in partnership with fuel cell technologies to support both propulsion and auxiliary power needs of the vessel. 

However, ammonia is not a simple swap in alternative fuel, there are several modifications that would be required to support the combustion of ammonia in a typical reciprocating engine - one of which is the addition of hydrogen to increase the flame speed and improve other combustion properties of the ammonia. By utilising an ammonia cracker, a Hydrogen rich cracked gas stream could be generated on demand from a single fuel source thus negating the need for multiple fuel storage solutions.

The CMDC4 funding will evaluate the feasibility of AFC Energy's ammonia cracker technology aimed at improving the combustion and emissions of future ammonia fuelled marine engines by supporting the development of a highly efficient system that can be integrated with a multicylinder marine combustion engine.  

The Project partners will also incorporate their next generation technologies to support the integration and testing of the AFC Energy ammonia cracker with a typical combustion engine.

The feasibility study would include and measure the full impact of the cracker on engine combustion, performance, fuel consumption and pollutant emissions compared to a typical marine grade fuel. The project work will include formal technical assessments of the practicality of the cracker system across existing and future marine vessels of varying sizes and use, and portside operations. The assessments will consider the impact of the system on vessel design, performance, safety and cost.

The aim of the project is to help to rapidly accelerate the technology to market, with subsequent steps progressing to full scale demonstration on an operating vessel followed by commercialisation at global scale. In addition to marine applications, the technology developed could also be used in other applications such as large stationary power generators and large off-road machinery, where AFC Energy is exploring multiple partnerships across global OEMs in this sector.

The overall feasibility project cost is forecast to be £975.5k, with grant funding awarded of £676.5k, representing substantial value for money, especially considering the broad project scope, including development and demonstration at system level. The remaining balance will be funded by contributions from each of the Programme Partners.

AFC Energy is the lead partner and will provide expertise in ammonia cracking technology, adapted for the unique use-cases of the maritime sector. Support from the University of Nottingham and MAHLE Powertrain with access to their test engine and facility, demonstrates a commitment to UK innovation and supports development of intellectual property and expertise to enable the UK to be at the forefront of energy transition within the maritime sector.

The project is being supported by two of the global maritime industry's leaders in the sustainable transition, Eastern Pacific Shipping and Purus.  Each are active in their assessment of ammonia adoption and have agreed to provide an industry review of the project, its progress, and adoption potential in transport vessels and larger carriers ships. 

The funding programme is expected to commence in the first quarter of 2024 and last twelve months. 

Adam Bond, Chief Executive at AFC Energy, said:

"We are pleased to have been recognised, along with our partners, by the UK Government's CMDC4 funding programme, highlighting further commercialization potential for our next generation ammonia cracker reactor.  AFC Energy has been engaging with international shipyards, vessel owners, and designers over the past year and we believe the adoption of ammonia as a decarbonisation maritime fuel is yet another international market for our highly efficient ammonia cracker reactor.  We look forward to providing industry with the results of this project and playing our role in enabling the maritime sector to achieve its sustainability targets." 

For further information, please contact:

AFC Energy plc                                                                                                            +44 (0) 14 8327 6726

Adam Bond (Chief Executive Officer)                                                                             [email protected]

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About AFC Energy

AFC Energy plc is a leading provider of hydrogen energy solutions, to provide clean electricity for on and off grid power applications. The Company's fuel cell technology is now deployable as electric vehicle chargers, off-grid decentralised power systems for construction and temporary power with emerging opportunities across maritime, data centres and rail as part of a portfolio approach to the decarbonisation of society's growing electrification needs.

About MAHLE Powertrain

A global leader in powertrain engineering, including zero carbon internal combustion engines, as well as electrified and hybridised systems. MAHLE Powertrain will provide the advanced single cylinder research engine for use in the experimentation, including novel jet-ignited combustion system and fully configurable engine controller, as well as technical support and system level simulation.

About Clean Air Power

An environmental technology company providing advanced injectors and control valves for alternative fuels, will be providing ammonia and cracked gas injectors to precisely meter fuel gas mixtures into the test engines.

About University of Nottingham (Powertrain Research Centre)

An Academic research centre of excellence in internal combustion engine technologies; will be providing the testing facilities and in-depth data analysis via access to engine test cells at their state-of-the-art UK laboratory.

Notes for Editors

In March 2022, the UK Government announced the biggest government investment ever in our UK commercial maritime sector, allocating £206m to UK SHORE, a new programme within the Department for Transport focused on decarbonising the maritime sector. UK SHORE is delivering a suite of interventions throughout 2022-2025 aimed at accelerating the design, manufacture and operation of UK-made clean maritime technologies and unlocking an industry-led transition to Net Zero.

The UK SHORE programme includes the flagship multi-year Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC) which provides match-funding to help bring pre-commercial technologies closer to market readiness. CMDC4 allocated £33m to 33 projects across the UK to deliver demonstrations, pre-deployment trials and feasibility studies between April 2024 - March 2025. The projects are supported by over 120 partners and will leverage more than £16m of private investment.

CMDC4 follows the successful first three rounds of the CMDC, which allocated over £95m to 105 projects. CMDC1 was launched in 2021, prior to UK SHORE.