AFPW News .0006
AlumiFuel Power Expands Its Visibility in Multi-Billion Dollar Back-Up Power Market
2012-05-31 07:00 ET - News Release
CENTENNIAL, CO -- (Marketwire) -- 05/31/12
Early production stage hydrogen generation company AlumiFuel Power Corporation (OTCBB: AFPW) (the "Company") through its operating subsidiaries, announced today that it is pursuing an increasing number of opportunities to address industry back-up power applications with its AlumiFuel cartridge-based technology. Beyond what was reported in the AFPW news release of May 2, 2012, additional industry and government players have now expressed interest in validating the Company's unique hydrogen generation technology to provide a viable new source of hydrogen for these applications. A Non-Disclosure Agreement has just been signed with a major equipment supplier to the wireless telecomm industry, and another one is in process with a major wireless telecomm carrier.
The large and growing U.S. back-up power market, traditionally served by lead-acid batteries and gasoline or diesel generators, is increasingly adopting hydrogen PEM fuel cell systems to replace these earlier technologies. The size of this market is enormous -- $6.4 billion for the emergency response segment (police, fire, medical, disaster preparedness) and an even larger multi-billion dollar segment for the telecom and financial services industries. All of the national wireless telecomm carriers (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile and Metro PCS) have begun installing fuel cell back-up power systems. As of early 2012, over 1,100 fuel cells had been installed at cell phone tower sites, most of which are 5kW systems. In addition, the U.S. Department of Defense has embarked on a pilot program to install fuel cell back-up power systems on 19 military installations. The principal fuel cell companies with products in this market include Altergy, ReliOn, Plug Power, Ida Tech, Ballard, Hydrogenics, Intelligent Energy and Nuvera. Also, companies such as Logan Energy serve as systems integrators in this market, matching various fuel cell products with customers' requirements.
This transition to fuel cell systems for back-up power is being driven by a number of important factors: (1) Lower fuel cell prices -- 80% reduction since 2002 and 35% reduction since 2008. (2) Cheaper life-cycle costs -- 25-50% over 10-15 year period. Verizon reports that use of a fuel cell back-up power system at its New York headquarters saved $680,000 over the first year of operation. (3) Higher power density and longer continuous runtimes. (4) Easier maintenance. (5) Remote monitoring capability. (6) Cleaner -- no dirty lead-acid batteries and no harmful emissions.
