Acumentrics Ships Solid Oxide Fuel Cell System To Sumitomo Of Japan For Testing

Acumentrics Corporation, a leading developer of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells and Uninterruptible Power Supplies for the distributed generation market, announced today the shipment of a 5 kWatt Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) System to the Sumitomo Corporation of Japan. The unit will be located and tested at the Yawata Laboratories of Nippon Steel Corporation and is the second Acumentrics demonstration unit to be shipped to Japan. The unit is the eighteenth SOFC system to be shipped as part of the Acumentrics field-testing program for its technology.

Sumitomo Corporation and Acumentrics last year formed Acumentrics Japan Corporation. The purpose of Acumentrics Japan is to market and sell Acumentrics' proprietary tubular solid oxide fuel cell power systems throughout Japan. The Nippon Steel Corporation is also now a shareholder in Acumentrics-Japan and will provide the facilities and conduct the testing in Japan of the Acumentrics systems.

Acumentrics, Sumitomo and Nippon Steel will initially concentrate on modifying Acumentrics’ prototype natural gas powered, rapid-start tubular solid oxide fuel cell "T-SOFC’s" for the Japanese market, initially targeting 2-10 kilowatt small commercial applications and later expanding to the 20, 50 and 100 kilowatt sizes. Acumentrics will be solely responsible for SOFC technology while Sumitomo will be responsible for market requirements and actual marketing of the fuel cell products.

Acumentrics Japan and Nippon Steel last June 2004 were one of four groups to be awarded a multi year grant of $10,000,000 by the New Energy and Industrial Development Organization (NEDO) of Japan. Nippon Steel will match the NEDO grant in kind and the group will seek other Japanese investors to further fund the Acumentrics-Japan venture. The Acumentrics' systems were highlighted in the Sumitomo exhibit at the FC EXPO 2005 which was held this month in Tokyo.

"Acumentrics is privileged to have partners like Sumitomo and Nippon Steel. Their enormous expertise and resources in designing, integrating and distributing leading-edge technology products throughout Japan and Asia will be a great asset to Acumentrics-Japan and Acumentrics. Acumentrics Japan is a good example of the kind of international cooperation that will help bring fuel cell products to the consumer in the near future. The benefits of this program will carry over to all our customers around the world." said Gary Simon, President & CEO of Acumentrics Corporation.