Business
New Product Facility
New Product Facility.
About this update from Ceres Power Holdings Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n Ceres Power Holdings plc\n25 September 2006\n\n\n25 September 2006\n\n Ceres Power Holdings plc\n ('Ceres', 'Ceres Power' or the 'Company')\n\n\nCeres secures new 'product facility' for assembly of complete products and also \nplans a 'mother plant' for volume manufacturing of its core fuel cell \ncomponents.\n\nCeres Power, the AIM-quoted fuel cell group, today announces that it has secured\na new 'product facility' to design, build and test complete products. The\nCompany is already working closely with partners providing key routes to market,\nand is now establishing an assembly capability for both large scale trials with\nthese channel partners, as well as direct sales into niche markets.\n\nThe new facility is anticipated to be operational by mid-2007 and represents a\n70% increase in available space for Ceres Power. It will take output from the\ncell 'pilot plant' already commissioned at the Company's Crawley headquarters,\nand integrate these into complete systems. The facility will also accommodate an\nexpanded design engineering capability for our targeted range of market\napplications. It will also enable us to validate manufacturing processes and\nassembly methods ahead of transfer for volume manufacture.\n\nOver time, it is planned that a range of products for specific clients will be\ndeveloped in the new facility across the company's target applications of\nresidential combined heat and power (CHP), off-grid generation, and auxiliary\npower units (APU) for transport.\n\nCeres is also planning a much larger facility ('mother plant') for the volume\nproduction of its core fuel cell components in preparation for mass market\nuptake, based on the demonstrated technical performance and significant interest\nfrom channel partners. The company will be evaluating potential locations for\nthe plant in terms of supply chain logistics, locally available skills and\nregional support.\n\nThe strategic review of alternatives for the mother plant, including a detailed\nplan of operations, is expected to be completed by mid-2007. It is anticipated\nthat the plant could begin operations in the second half of 2008, thereafter\nbuilding output for a number of applications and markets.\n\nPeter Bance, Chief Executive of Ceres Power, commented:\n\n'As a result of the commercial traction we have now established and the strong\ntechni...