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SUPERGEN: Fuel Cell Consortium - Powering a Greener Future

Addressing key issues across all aspects of electricity supply.

Project leader

Prof Keith Scott

Dates

September 2009 to February 2014

Project staff

Prof Paul Christensen

Sponsors

EPSRC

Partners

Ceres Power Ltd, Intelligent Energy Ltd, Johnson Matthey Technology Centre, Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems Ltd

Description

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council funds the Supergen initiative. The initiative is a comprehensive program of research in Sustainable Power Generation and Supply.

The research addresses many key areas. These include sustainable and efficient electrical power generation. Systems under development are low carbon, zero-carbon or carbon neutral. This research includes life-cycle analysis.

Supergen also explores the distribution, control, monitoring and connection of electrical power. Supergen is investigating the stability of supply, and the reliability of energy carriers. This includes evolution of alternative energy vectors, carriers, conversion technologies, and generation systems.

Supergen will contribute to the UK's environmental emissions targets through:

  • radical improvement in the sustainability of power generation and supply
  • promoting significant step change rather than incremental progress

Supergen involves multidisciplinary partnerships working together in major programmes. This provides a depth of research impossible to achieve by individual research groups working in isolation.

During the first four years, the consortium will:

  • produce a thick film Solid Oxide Fuel Cell with ‘zero’ leakage
  • improve fuel cell durability by halving the present degradation rate
  • enhance fuel flexibility to encompass both renewable and logistic fuels
  • improve the power density of existing fuel cells:
    • HT-PEMFCs to match the performance of current low temperature PEMFCs
    • HT-SOFCs such that the performance at 750C matches present performance at 850C
    • IT-SOFCs such that the performance at 500C matches current performance at 550C

We will also establish a dissemination, outreach and training program in fuel cell science and engineering. 

Undergraduate
Postgraduate research
Postgraduate taught