Ceres Power Holdings plc is a UK developer of
solid oxide electrolyzer cell and
solid oxide fuel cell
A solid oxide fuel cell (or SOFC) is an Electrochemistry, electrochemical conversion device that produces electricity directly from oxidizing a fuel. Fuel cells are characterized by their electrolyte material; the SOFC has a solid oxide or cera ...
technology
for use in distributed power systems aimed at decarbonising cities, factories, data centres and electric vehicle charging.
Founded in 2001, it is headquartered at
Horsham
Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...
in the UK. It is listed on the
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...
. It is also classified by the LSE Green Economy Mark,
which recognises listed companies that derive more than 50% of their activity from the green economy.
History
In 2001, Ceres Power spun-out from
Imperial College London
Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...
after more than 10 years of fundamental research led by Professor Brian Steele.
In November 2004, Ceres was first listed on the
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...
.
In September 2013, Phil Caldwell became the CEO of Ceres Power
following investment from
IP Group.
Technology
Ceres Steel Cell
The Ceres patented Steel Cell is a
Solid oxide fuel cell
A solid oxide fuel cell (or SOFC) is an Electrochemistry, electrochemical conversion device that produces electricity directly from oxidizing a fuel. Fuel cells are characterized by their electrolyte material; the SOFC has a solid oxide or cera ...
(SOFC) that can operate on mains natural gas for
distributed power generation.
The steel cell operates at 500-600 °C which allows the use of cerium gadolinium oxide (CGO) in the anode and electrolyte and the bulk of the fuel cell to be mostly made from ferritic steel.
The technology is reversible. In one direction it can generate electricity from multiple fuels; in the other, it can generate green hydrogen at low cost and high efficiencies.
Hydrogen
The UK Hydrogen Strategy cites UK companies including
ITM Power,
Johnson Matthey and Ceres as being at the forefront of hydrogen technology development worldwide.
Ceres is an Executive Member of the UK Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association UK Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association
and a founding member of the Long Duration Energy Storage Council.
Business Model
Ceres operates a licensing business model and partners with global industry partners to develop clean energy systems and products. Partners included Bosch,
Weichai,
Doosan,
Miura
and Shell.
Awards
In July 2023, Ceres Power was awarded the 2023
MacRobert Award by the Royal Academy of Engineering.
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]
This is the UK's most prestigious engineering prize.
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]
In its award citation, the academy recognised Ceres for its "''ground-breaking fuel cell technology that promises to make a major contribution to decarbonising the world at the scale and pace required to save the planet.''"
[
]
In 2021 Ceres was awarded the
Queen’s Award for Enterprise 2021 in the category of International Trade.
References
External links
Official siteOfficial video featured in MacRobert Award citation from Royal Academy of Engineering
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Engineering companies of the United Kingdom
Fuel cell manufacturers
Companies in the FTSE SmallCap Index