Horsham's Ceres Power inks hydrogen licence deal with Taiwanese giant

Published by

Giles Gwinnett

Ceres CEO Phil Caldwell with Delta Head of Hydrogen Energy Business Division Charles Tsai - picture contributed

Horsham-headquartered fuel cell and tech company Ceres Power Holdings revealed on Thursday (January 18) its first hydrogen licence inked with Taiwanese giant Delta Electronics - a provider of power management solutions.

The two companies signed a manufacturing collaboration and licence agreement for both solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) and solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack production, bringing in revenue to Ceres of £43 million, with around half of that figure expected to be recognised as revenue this year (2024).

Delta, which employs 80,000 worldwide, expects to integrate Ceres' stack technology with its own power electronics and thermal management technologies to develop solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) systems.

Factory construction will start from 2024 and initial production by Delta is expected to start by the end of 2026.

"It’s great to announce a new partnership today with Delta, a company with worldwide expertise in mass manufacturing, power electronics and system integration, said Ceres CEO Phil Caldwell in a statement.

"We believe Delta can deliver efficient clean hydrogen solutions for its customers utilising both our SOFC and SOEC technologies.

"Green hydrogen has a key role to play in delivering a more secure and sustainable future energy system and today we take this first step towards what promises to be a strong collaboration with Delta to accelerate the industry globally," he added.

Ping Cheng, Delta’s CEO, added: "Hydrogen has high heating value and zero CO2 emission potential characteristics, and thus, will play a crucial role in the global transition towards net-zero.

"Moreover, Hydrogen SOFC systems boast reliability and high efficiency in electricity generation, making them ideal for micro-grid applications, distributed power systems, mission-critical facilities, such as data centers, semiconductor production lines, and other advanced manufacturing."

There is also the potential for further revenue from the sale of Ceres development stacks to Delta, while the deal also includes royalty payments to Ceres on future commercial production and sale to end customers by Delta.

Ceres has perfecting its solid oxide technology for more than 20 years and operates a licensing business model. Hydrogen applications are set to play a crucial role in achieving net zero targets.

Shares of Ceres in London on Thursday surged 45%.

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Giles Gwinnett

Giles Gwinnett is a writer at The Business Magazine. He has been a journalist for more than 20 years and covered a vast array of topics at a range of media settings - in print and online. After his NCTJ newspaper training, he became a reporter in Hampshire before moving to a news agency in Gloucestershire. In recent years, he has been covering the financial markets along with company news for an investor-focused web portal. His many interests include politics, energy and the environment. He lives in Dorset.