The non-exclusive agreement gives Neco – Australia’s leading green retailer – the right to market, sell, install, and service solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) micro combined heat and power (mCHP) BlueGen units throughout Australia. The Ceramic Fuel Cells BlueGen units will be available for installation in Australian homes and buildings from early in 2010.
BlueGen is the latest breakthrough in small-scale electricity generation. Each BlueGen unit, about the size of a dishwasher, can produce up to 17 000 kWh of electric power per annum – twice the electricity needed to power an average Australian home. Surplus electricity can be sold back to the grid. BlueGen units can generate electricity from natural gas at up to double the efficiency of the current power grid, providing significant cost savings off energy bills.
Neco is currently preparing a range of purchase options that will allow customers to achieve attractive financial paybacks while dramatically cutting their greenhouse gas emissions.
Ceramic Fuel Cells says that the BlueGen units can cut carbon emissions by up to two-thirds compared to coal-derived electricity. The first BlueGen units will be used for demonstration programs and showcase sites. Installation in residential and commercial buildings will begin in March 2010, when Bluegen units will also be available in Europe.
‘Ceramic Fuel Cells sees Neco as an ideal local partner to market, sell, install, and service our BlueGen units,’ says Brendan Dow, managing director of Ceramic Fuel Cells. ‘Neco is focused on retailing green products to passionate green consumers, and has vast experience in the eco product space. They have undertaken significant research on the market’s appetite for the BlueGen product, and are very excited about adding BlueGen to their product list.’
Ceramic Fuel Cells Ltd is developing micro CHP and distributed generation products with leading appliance partners and utility customers in Germany, France, the UK and Japan. In May the company launched its BlueGen product. CFCL is headquartered in Melbourne, with operations in the UK and Germany.