Intelligent Energy is a

fuel cell A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen fuel, hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most bat ...

engineering business focused on the development, manufacture and commercialisation of its proton-exchange membrane fuel cell technologies for a range of markets including automotive, stationary power, materials handling equipment and UAVs. Headquartered in the UK with representation in the US,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

History

The origins of Intelligent Energy began at

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public university, public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university sinc ...

in the UK during the late 1980s, when the University became one of Europe's first research and development centres for proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell technology. In 1995, the UK's first kW-level PEM fuel cell stack was produced by the R&D team. In June of that year, Advanced Power Sources (APS) Ltd was founded as a spin-off from Loughborough University by Paul Adcock, Phil Mitchell, Jon Moore and Anthony Newbold,Fuel Cell Success for Former Loughborough Lecturer
/ref> and was the first company in the UK formed specifically to address the development and commercialisation of PEM fuel cells. Founded by Harry Bradbury, Intelligent Energy was established in 2001, acquiring Advanced Power Sources Ltd, together with its personnel and fuel cell related intellectual property that originated from research conducted by both APS and Loughborough University into PEM fuel cell technology. This triggered investment and enabled the company to grow its business activities.
. ''Cleantech Investor''. October 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2013. In March 2005, it launched the ENV, the world's first purpose-built fuel cell motorbike, which gained the company recognition as a Technology Pioneer by the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

in 2006. The ENV incorporated the company's air-cooled fuel cell technology hybridised with a battery pack to provide 6kW peak load to the motor to improve performance during spikes in power demand i.e. acceleration.Intelligent Energy’s ENV Fuel Cell Motorcycle
''Green Car Congress''. 16 March 2005. Retrieved 18 June 2013. In 2007, a partnership was announced with

Suzuki Motor Corporation is a Japanese multinational mobility manufacturer headquartered in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka. It manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a variety of other small internal com ...

to develop hydrogen fuel cells for a range of vehicles.Intelligent Energy and Suzuki to Partner on Hydrogen Fuel Cell Motorcycles
''Green Car Congress''. 8 February 2007. Retrieved 18 June 2013. In 2008, Intelligent Energy established the company IE-CHP in a joint venture with SSE plc, to develop fuel cells and other technologies for CHP (Combined Heat and Power) applications.Fuel cell combined heat and power venture secures £3.7 million
Energy Efficiency News. 9 November 2010. Retrieved 18 June 2013. In the same year, Intelligent Energy also produced the power system for the first fuel cell powered crewed flight in conjunction with

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

.Boeing fuel cell plane in manned aviation first

Science Direct ScienceDirect is a searchable web-based bibliographic database, which provides access to full texts of scientific and medical publications of the Dutch publisher Elsevier as well of several small academic publishers. It hosts over 18 million ...

. April 2008. Retrieved 18 June 2013. In 2010, its fuel-cell taxi received ''The Engineer'' Technology and Innovation Award. In March 2011, the Suzuki Burgman fuel cell scooter, equipped with Intelligent Energy's fuel cell system, became the first fuel cell vehicle to achieve European Whole Vehicle Type Approval.Suzuki’s Burgman Fuel-Cell Scooter becomes world’s first fuel cell vehicle to earn European Whole Vehicle Type Approval
Global Suzuki. 9 March 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2013. In 2012, SMILE FC System Corporation, a joint venture between Intelligent Energy and

, was established to develop and manufacture air-cooled fuel cell systems for the automotive and a range of industry sectors.UK-based company Intelligent Energy and partner Suzuki unveil joint venture to develop and manufacture new fuel cell systems
. SMMT. 8 February 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2013. During the same year, a fleet of fuel cell taxis incorporating Intelligent Energy's technology was used during the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. Part of the European Union-funded HyTEC (Hydrogen Technologies in European Cities) project launched in 2011, the taxis were used to transport VIP guests of the Mayor of London around the city.Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Taxis Drive Olympic VIPs 2500 Miles
Fuel Cell Today. 1 October 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2013. In 2013, SMILE FC Corporation announced that it had established a ready-to-scale production line for its fuel cell systems, utilising Intelligent Energy's semi-automated production technology.Intelligent Energy and Suzuki Announce Ready-to-Scale Fuel Cell Production Line
. Electric Cars Report. 21 February 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013. IE-CHP also received CE certification for its first-generation product, a 10 kWe/12 kWth combined heat and power (CHP) fuel cell. The certification allows the product to be sold in the

European Economic Area The European Economic Area (EEA) was established via the ''Agreement on the European Economic Area'', an international agreement which enables the extension of the European Union's single market to member states of the European Free Trade Asso ...

, confirming that the product satisfies all the EU regulatory and conformity assessment procedures covering the design, manufacture, and testing of the system.Intelligent Energy and Scottish and Southern Energy JV IE-CHP Receives CE Certification for First Fuel Cell Product
Fuel Cell Today. 20 March 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013. Intelligent Energy was acquired by Meditor Energy, part of the Meditor Group, in October 2017. In 2018, Intelligent Energy announced the launch of its IE-LIFT 802/804 fuel cell modules for power generation applications such as stationary power, micro-grids, telecoms, and critical infrastructure.

Technology

Intelligent Energy's fuel-cell technology is divided into two platforms: air-cooled (AC) and evaporatively-cooled (EC). The air-cooled fuel cell systems use low-power fans to provide cooling and the oxidant supply for operation. Heat from the fuel cell stack is conducted to cooling plates and removed through airflow channels, a simplified and cost-effective system for the power range from a few watts to several kilowatts. They are used in a wide range of UAV, stationary power and automotive applications for two-wheel and small car range extender applications. Evaporatively-cooled (EC) fuel cell systems provide power generation from a few kilowatts up to 200kW. Efficient thermal management of the EC fuel cell stack reduces system complexity, mass and cost. These systems are designed for high-volume, low-cost manufacturing, and use modular architecture that can be quickly modified to suit the application.

Market sectors

Automotive

In 2010, the company was involved in the development of the report entitled “A portfolio of power-trains for Europe: a fact-based analysis. The role of Battery Electric Vehicles, Plug-In Hybrids and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles”, produced by

McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company (informally McKinsey or McK) is an American multinational strategy and management consulting firm that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. Founded in 1926 by James O. McKinse ...

with input from car manufacturers, oil and gas suppliers, utilities and industrial gas companies, wind turbine and electrolyser companies as well as governmental and non-governmental organisations. The report concluded, amongst other findings, that fuel cell vehicles are technology ready, and cost competitive, and that decarbonisation targets for

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

are unlikely to be met without the introduction of fuel cell powertrains.A portfolio of power-trains for Europe: a fact-based analysis
. ''Fuel Cells and Hydrogen''. 9 November 2010. Retrieved 19 June 2013.

Membership of industry consortia and trade associations

The company is a founding member of UKH₂ Mobility, a government and industry group aiming to accelerate the commercial roll-out of

hydrogen vehicles A hydrogen vehicle is a vehicle that uses hydrogen to propulsion, move. Hydrogen vehicles include some road vehicles, rail vehicles, space rockets, forklifts, hydrogen-powered ship, ships and hydrogen-powered aircraft, aircraft. Motive power is ge ...

in 2014/15;Intelligent Energy announces its support for UKH₂ Mobility
''Loughborough University''. 9 November 2010. Retrieved 19 June 2013.

References