Westwood MA, October 25, 2005 --Acumentrics Corporation, a leading developer of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells and Uninterruptible Power Supplies for the distributed generation market, announced today the shipment of a five kilowatt Tubular Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) System to the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in Morgantown, West Virginia. This unit is the seventh in Acumentricsí current beta field test program.
Acumentrics Corporation is a part of the U.S. Department of Energyís Solid-State Energy Conversion Alliance (SECA) industry program. As part of this program, participants will be required to supply NETL with a working SOFC system sometime in 2006. NETL is developing a facility to perform this testing. The Acumentrics unit, though not the same as the unit that will be shipped in 2006, will be used to help NETL start up its test facility and will be the first unit supplied to NETL by a SECA team member. Over the next 6 to 12 months, the Acumentrics SOFC system will be tested at NETL to shake down their facility and testing procedures.
"This shipment further illustrates the progress of the Acumentrics team in developing actual systems based on SOFC technology." said Gary Simon, the CEO of Acumentrics. "Our systems will be compatible with this country's existing fuel infrastructure as well as the potential hydrogen infrastructure of the future."
"Acumentrics Corporation is pleased to be able to supply this unit to NETL.," said Dr. Norman Bessette, the Senior Vice President for Operations and Engineering. ìThe support that our company has received over the past two years from SECA has been an indispensable part of our progress to date."
About Acumentrics:
Acumentrics Corporation, a privately owned company founded in 1994 and based in Westwood, Massachusetts. It is a leading solid oxide fuel cell developer of 1 to 10 kilowatt residential and industrial distributed electricity and heat generation products. Acumentricsí unique and patented high temperature tubular solid oxide fuel cell generation units are designed to run directly from natural gas, propane and other hydrocarbon fuels (such as coal-derived and biomass-derived hydrogen based fuels) at standard delivery pressures. This unique and distinguishing feature is based on a highly simplified in-tube fuel reforming method that negates the need for complex external or co-packaged high-cost reformation systems. Acumentricsí fuel cells produce essentially zero harmful emissions, noise or vibration, and are being designed for outdoor long-term continuous duty as well as cyclical use. Acumentrics investors and distribution partners include Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Northeast Utilities (NYSE:NU), General Dynamics (NYSE:GD), NiSource (NYSE:NI), and Sumitomo (TSE: 8053, OTC:SSUMY), Connecticutís Clean Energy Fund, and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative.
Acumentrics is one of only six companies in the United States to be awarded and begin work under the U.S. Department of Energyís Solid-State Energy Conversion Alliance (SECA) industry program. Advancements made by Acumentrics under the SECA program are included in the 5 kWatt SOFC system built for the NETL tests. The Acumentrics SECA program is scheduled for 9 years duration. It targets small-scale 3-10 kilowatt SOFC units with a manufacturing cost of $400 per kilowatt at completion. Information on SECA can be found at www.seca.doe.gov
Acumentrics also manufactures a line of battery based uninterruptible power supplies that are designed to enhance power quality. These products are unique in their ability to be deployed in harsh physical and electrical environments and are used extensively for various military and heavy-duty industrial applications.