Ceres Power, a manufacturer of Combined Heat and Power fuel cell boilers officially opened a new manufacturing facility on Tuesday this week.
Ceres has created 170 ‘Green Collar’ jobs at its manufacturing facility in Horsham and technology centre in Crawley. There is also the potential for further new jobs to be created in the local supply chain, advanced manufacturing engineering and operations as the company expands and begins to export.
The company has estimated that up to 30,000 fuel cells will be produced every year. They are an alternative to conventional boilers – having no moving parts, requiring less maintenance, and boasting quieter operation. The main advantage is that the Combined Heat and Power (CHP) fuel cells are able to transfer surplus electricity back to the grid. They provide a home with all its electricity needs at the same time as heating it.
Ceres Power has entered into a partnership with British Gas to sell, install, service and maintain the CHP product in UK homes, offering households’ savings of up to 25% of their annual total energy costs, while at the same time reducing their carbon footprint.
Minister for Business and Enterprise Mark Prisk, who was at the opening of the new facility said: “Ceres Power’s work in developing a revolutionary new product that can convert natural gas into electricity and heat without burning it will cut costs of annual energy bills and has the potential to make a major contribution to reducing carbon emissions in millions of homes in the UK and across Europe.”
Executive chairman of Ceres Power, Brian Count, said: “We look forward to creating significant further skilled jobs in the UK and generating export opportunities in partnership with the UK government.”
George Archer
