Africa’s rural areas are to benefit from a partnership that will see Ballard Power Systems and Anglo American Platinum, both world leaders in energy solutions, develop fuel cell home generator for the African market.
Under the agreement, Anglo American Platinum has committed to fund development and testing of the planned home generator product, which will be capable of providing primary power to homes in remote African communities without access to the public grid, the company said.
Ballard Power System has announced that the first phase of the work has been completed and the second phase is “well underway”.
Fuel cell is one of the environmental friendly energy sources emitted from chemicals that are transformed into electrical energy. They are almost similar to batteries but they last longer than the batteries in the market.
Andrew Hinkly, executive head – commercial for Anglo American Platinum, said: “This is a key initiative, as part of our commitment to beneficiation in South Africa. It will create jobs, deliver clean energy to parts of Africa that go without power today, and of course promote a product that uses platinum. So, we are delighted to be working with a fuel cell market leader in Ballard.”
There will be more field studies to test the prototype before the solutions is launched in the market. This will help rural people to be more innovative in their businesses with the access to electrical power.
“We are excited by the progress to date under our agreement with Anglo American Platinum. The agreement is clear evidence of their commitment to fuel cells and will enable the development of an integrated small-scale stationary power system, which could have a transformational impact in South Africa and beyond,” Commented John Sheridan, President and CEO of Ballard Power Systems.
