German state, Canada to cooperate on fuel cells

07 January 2010 16:12  [Source: ICIS news]

TORONTO (ICIS news)--Germany’s North-Rhine Westphalia state will cooperate with a Canadian research institute to find affordable fuel-cell technologies and help position the state as a production site for that sector in Europe, it said on Thursday.

Under an agreement, the Vancouver-based National Research Council Canada - Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation (NRC-IFCI) would work with the Zentrum fuer BrennstoffzellenTechnik (ZBT) at the University of Duisburg-Essen, the state’s economics ministry said.

The partners would explore the production and use of affordable fuel-cells systems and batteries, exchange materials and personnel, and cooperate on education and training, it said.

“The objective of our hydrogen and fuel-cells research and development is to find a technology that is practical, affordable and efficient,” said economics minister Christa Thoben.

North-Rhine Westphalia was looking at fuels cells and batteries as two complementary technologies worth promoting, the ministry said, adding that it planned to provide further incentives to spur related investments in the coming years.

A joint project between NRC-IFCI and ZBT, called HiPerLoCo, or “development of high-performance and low-cost polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells”, would get €380,000 ($550,700) in financing, the ministry said.

ZBT is funded by North-Rhine Westphalia and the European Union.

($1 = €0.69)

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