Calor Announces Agreement with Voller Energy Group PLC

Calor, the UK’s leading supplier of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) has today announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Voller Energy Group PLC (AIM: VLR), the leading commercial developer and manufacturer of portable fuel cell systems.

The agreement is for Calor and Voller Energy to work together to develop the market for fuel cell generators and battery chargers, where the hydrogen that the fuel cells use is from Calor products.

Voller Energy is working on a fuel cell technology that is fuelled by hydrogen derived from widely available hydrocarbons such as butane or propane. Calor has over 70 years experience in the energy market and is part of the Dutch multinational SHV Gas, which is the world’s leading downstream suppliers of LPG. The company has 10,000 UK outlets, supplying around four million homes, businesses and individuals with LPG for a wide variety of applications.

Paul Blacklock, Calor’s marketing manager, said the collaboration would bring many benefits, particularly for homes and businesses in rural areas. “Fuel cell technology is rapidly developing and will clearly be of benefit in rural areas where mains gas is not available and where the quality of electricity supplies is often poorer. As we move towards a vision of a distributed energy infrastructure, LPG fuel cells will increasingly play a vital role.”

Stephen Voller, CEO of Voller Energy Group PLC, said: “We are very excited by the potential opportunities offered by the relationship with Calor. They are the ideal partner as we seek to develop portable fuel cells charged by hydrocarbons. With over 10,000 outlets in the UK and a strong presence in our key chosen markets this agreement offers both companies benefits from the development of this important environmentally-friendly technology.”

Issued on behalf of Calor by Connect PR, Chubb Buildings, Fryer Street, Wolverhampton WV1 1HT. Telephone: 01902 714957. Email:

NOTES TO EDITORS:

Hydrogen Economy

Fuel cells offer a real alternative to conventional energy generation from petrol or diesel fuels. Fuel cells generate electricity from a chemical reaction involving hydrogen and oxygen. The oxygen is supplied from the air, the hydrogen need to be supplied to the fuel cell from an external source.

There has been much speculation in recent years that a so called hydrogen economy will emerge, replacing our current carbon economy as carbon based fossil fuels such as coal, gas and oil become scarce.

However, in spite of repeated Government initiatives, hydrogen is still only available from specialist gas suppliers, and there are no immediate plans to make hydrogen widely available to consumers.

By contrast propane or LPG is widely available. Calor Gas has 10,000 outlets for their products in the UK alone. By utilising the ‘reformer technology’ that Voller Energy acquired in 2005, hydrogen can be made on demand for fuel cells from Calor Gas. This means that the external hydrogen that fuels cells need can be supplied by Calor Gas.

Voller Energy Group PLC

Voller Energy is one of the world’s first commercial developers and manufacturers of portable fuel cell systems for use as battery chargers and mobile generators.

Voller Energy is initially targeting commercially attractive areas including the cordless power tool, temporary buildings, leisure boating, recreational vehicle (RV) and military markets. These are likely to be early adopters of the technology as the benefits of using fuels cells, such as low noise, low vibration, no toxic emissions and health and safety issues, are important drivers. The portable power market is generally defined up to 10kW and is expected to be worth $17 billion by 2011 (Canadian Fuel Cell Commercialisation Roadmap – Price Waterhouse Coopers, March 2003).

Importantly, Voller Energy’s business is not dependent on the emergence of a hydrogen infrastructure, which may take many years to develop. Through its acquisition of intellectual property from KAT-Chem in February 2005, Voller Energy has acquired a low cost fuel processor technology, which means that it can extract the hydrogen found in fuels such as propane, butane (LPG), diesel and the military fuel JP8. This supply of hydrogen from commonly available fuels should ensure the early and widespread adoption of fuel cell technology.

To date, Voller Energy has filed seven patents relating to their core technology. One of these patents has been granted to date.

About Fuel Cells

Fuel cells work by converting the chemical energy in hydrogen to electrical energy. Hydrogen is combined with oxygen from the air across a special membrane. The outputs from the reaction are electricity, heat and water. In order to provide sufficient voltage for a useable amount of electrical energy, several membranes are assembled between plates and assembled into a stack. The fuel cell stack that Voller currently use in the VE100 is about the size and weight of a small box of chocolates, and each plate about the size of an ‘After Eight Mint’. Normally 20 to 30 plates are assembled in a single fuel cell stack.

Core technology developed at Voller Energy is the fuel cell control system that allows integrated battery charging systems to operate at high efficiency. These systems involve the close monitoring of all inputs and outputs, with software written by Voller Energy that controls the fuel cell system effectively.

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Released: February 2006