GenCell Ltd. is an Israeli company developing hydrogen alkaline based
fuel cell
A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most batteries in requ ...
systems and solutions that replace
diesel generators
A diesel generator (DG) (also known as a diesel Genset) is the combination of a diesel engine with an electric generator (often an alternator) to generate electrical energy. This is a specific case of engine generator. A diesel compression-ig ...
with clean backup power for utilities, homeland security, healthcare and automated industries, as well as Ammonia (NH3) based off-grid power solutions.
History
GenCell Ltd was founded in 2011 by Rami Reshef, Genaddy Finkelshtain and Gil Shavit. The company is headquartered in
Petach Tikva
Petah Tikva ( he, פֶּתַח תִּקְוָה, , ), also known as ''Em HaMoshavot'' (), is a city in the Central District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv. It was founded in 1878, mainly by Haredi Jews of the Old Yishuv, and became a permanent set ...
.
In 2016, GenCell introduced the G5 line of hydrogen gas-powered backup generators to provide power in areas lacking centralized electricity
TDK Corporation
is a Japanese multinational electronics corporation that manufactures electronic components and recording and data-storage media. Its motto is "Contribute to culture and industry through creativity".
"TDK" is an initialism of the original Ja ...
and GenCell began collaborating in 2017 to develop and produce an ammonia- based solution.
The collaboration involved GenCell’s material sciences knowledge and TDK’s manufacturing capabilities.
In 2018, GenCell introduced the A5 fuel cell as an alternative to diesel generators. In 2020, GenCell Ltd joined the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange
In 2021, GenCell Ltd began deploying its A5 cell to power an advanced test unit at an emergency communications system station in Iceland.
Technology
The company developed a process to create hydrogen-on-demand from anhydrous ammonia (NH3),
which enables its fuel cell solutions to also provide primary power for off-grid and poor-grid sites, as well as rural electrification.
The company has non-noble metal catalysts patents that enable it to reduce the material costs, and liquid electrolyte (KOH),
making the fuel cell solutions for backup and off-grid power to operate in a vast range of weather conditions.
GenCell developed a number of patented technologies, including the use of a non-platinum catalyst, mechanisms for using ambient air as an
oxidizer
An oxidizing agent (also known as an oxidant, oxidizer, electron recipient, or electron acceptor) is a substance in a redox chemical reaction that gains or " accepts"/"receives" an electron from a (called the , , or ). In other words, an oxid ...
(instead of pure
oxygen
Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...
),
and using lower-cost fuels such as industrial-grade
hydrogen gas
Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, a ...
or anhydrous liquid ammonia.
GenCell is field testing prototypes of small scale fuel cells fueled by ammonia. This ammonia-to-energy technology will provide clean energy users with another alternative.
Cost
A GenCell A5 4kW generator costs 60,000-70,000 USD. GenCell estimates that local production of ammonia will help reduce energy production costs, and will allow its generators to run at 70 cents per kWh.
References
External links
*{{Official website
Fuel cell manufacturers