For the past 20 years, Intelligent Energy has pioneered the hydrogen sector with its lightweight and compact fuel cells. Now, with more orders than ever before, the company continues to make waves within the industry. In an exclusive interview with Inside Sustainability, CCO Greg Harris explained why fuel cells are the future. Report by Imogen Ward.
Initially set up as a spin-off from Loughborough University, Intelligent Energy has dedicated the last 20 years to developing powerful fuel cells perfect for a diverse range of applications.
“Intelligent Energy was one of the first c ompanies to work on fuel cell technology,”
said CCO Greg Harris. “To begin with, finding a market for the technology was difficult, but now with everyone focused on meeting net zero targets, the level of interest has accelerated. Today, the challenge is scaling up our production quickly enough to meet that demand.”
Intelligent Energy is still strongly connected to its roots at Loughborough University, with its main research facility located on the institute’s science park. Home to an impressive array of test labs, the facility has been recently upgraded to expand production capabilities and upgrade end-of-line test capability.
This expansion was implemented to meet the soaring demand for fuel cells; and with the company expecting to produce around 1,000 fuel cells this year and double that
amount in 2024, further expansion is urgently needed.
“We are currently looking at potential locations for expanding our manufacturing and testing,” Mr Harris said, “and we recently ordered a one-megawatt electrolyser to provide the hydrogen we need to support our testing, which should be delivered by the middle of next year.”
The impressive range
According to Intelligent Energy, fuel cells are a solid investment – especially when compared to alternative options currently available on the market.
“Many industries have already started to use batteries to replace internal combustion engines and people are finding out where they work, and where they don’t work so well,” Mr Harris explained. “And that’s really where the fuel cell comes in.”
Fuel cells are a zero-emission technology, that do not require finite minerals for production; just a small amount of platinum. According to Mr Harris, they are also almost entirely recyclable: “Up to 95 per cent of materials within a fuel cell can be recycled, and done so economically, without incurring the high end-of-life costs typically associated with batteries.
“Our fuel cell stacks are replaceable to extend the life of the product. Depending on the type of fuel cells, the predicted lifespan is anywhere from 5,000 hours for the smaller products to 10,000 hours or more for the larger products.”
Two different fuel cell lines are currently on offer at Intelligent Energy. The IESOAR TM and IE-POWER TM complete the first of these ranges: these are low-powered, air-cooled systems that can fuel applications up to 5kW.
“These products really suit low-power applications, with customers utilising multiple cells to power applications up to 32kW,” Mr Harris said. “The IE-SOAR TM is the lightweight version, which is often used for drones and fixed wing and rotary wing drones, and the output from each fuel cell ranges from 800 watts to 2.4 kilowatts.
“The IE-POWERTM range is used for forklifts and other material handling equipment. They are also now being used in the US for backup power systems, which is currently our biggest area of growth.”
Since the introduction of the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, which offers incentives to those accelerating the transition to net zero technologies, Intelligent Energy has witnessed a significant increase of fuel cell purchases from the US.
Powered-up progression
For those looking for higher power, the company also offers a range of liquidcooled fuel cells, called IE-DRIVE TM . The IEDRIVE TM is currently available in two forms: the DRIVE 100, perfect for powering
passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, and the HD100, designed for heavy-duty vehicles and large stationary power applications.
The development of the IE-DRIVE TM products has been supported by an Advanced Propulsion Centre-funded project. The first IE-DRIVE TM 100 fuel cell engine will be integrated into an SUV and tested by project partner Changan-UK later this year.
“It’s a really exciting time for us,” Mr Harris said: “we’ve already delivered the first system for lab testing, and we’re now in the final build stage for the systems to go into the vehicles.
“The initial testing has shown that we can deliver up to 155kW from the stack, making it one of the most powerful fuel cell integrations within a passenger vehicle. This gives us confidence in delivering the 110-kilowatt system output targeted in the project. Next year, we will be scaling up IE-DRIVE TM production ready for delivery of hundreds of units from 2025 onwards.”
At the end of 2023, the company also starts testing its third generation of high-power fuel cell technology, delivering at least 30% improvement in power density compared to the previous model
The future of fuel cells
Whilst other countries are slowly becoming enlightened to the potential of fuel cells, South Korea has been integrating this technology into its infrastructure for many years.
“South Korea is a very interesting market for hydrogen and fuel cells,” Mr Harris explained. “It’s one of the most
developed hydrogen economies, with around 40,000 hydrogen cars on the road, and the increased use of hydrogen within a lot of industries. In particular, the South Korean government is pioneering the use of fuel cells to support the electrical grid.
“We’ve been supplying our IE-SOAR TM fuel cells for drones in South Korea for the past few years. Last year, we started supplying IE - POWER TM fuel cells for back-up power systems. Now, they are using our high-powered IE-DRIVE TM products to provide a solution for use within the grid. Using hundreds of our fuel cells collectively, we can provide multiple megawatts of power to support the grid. This is a key project for: IE, not only are we pioneering the use of PEM fuel cell technology in this type of application, but it is also getting the attention of other countries as part of the future net zero solution. It’s incredible to be involved in that.”
The future for Intelligent Energy is looking promising, having just signed several important agreements within the US,
including a volume supply agreement with partner BWR. The company also recently gained a new US distributor for its drone fuel cells, IE-SOAR TM . It is no
wonder that Intelligent Energy delivered more fuel cells in the first three months of 2023 than for the whole of 2022, reflecting the rapid growth in opportunities for these fuel cells .
“It’s invigorating to see everything that is happening in the world of hydrogen right now. South Korea, Germany and the USA are really encouraging the development of hydrogen as a fuel and the use of fuel cells, but the UK has a long way to go,” Mr Harris said: “It’s frustrating, because it’s evident from other countries that the right level of support can quickly accelerate the uptake of fuel cells. Regardless, it’s an incredibly fascinating time to be involved in the industry.
“The level of interest from different industries and various markets is huge,” he concluded. “Every day brings different activities and opportunities – and that’s truly remarkable.” n
