Elcogen AS

Elcogen (http://www.elcogen.com) is a developer and manufacturer of intermediate temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC) based on proprietary materials and technological solutions. It was established in 2001 and is located in Estonia. The company works closely with leading Estonian and Finnish research institutes. Numerous scientists and engineers are involved in continuous research and development. Elcogen has developed a product – a single solid oxide fuel cell based on superior proprietary materials and technologies, and has filed relevant patent applications for its R&D. Elcogen's Solid Oxide Fuel Cells are based on the deep understanding of behaviour and manufacturing of dense and porous ceramic materials. Elcogen uses proprietary, inexpensive materials in the cells. The cells are tailored to operate at temperatures above 600 °C under hydrogen or different hydrocarbon reformats and demonstrate good mechanical strength, high current densities, and good stability. Small series production facilities are capable of producing up to 2MW of cells annually. Production layout is optimised for efficiency thus enabling low cost production and scalability.

Elcogen's mission is to develop and provide a high quality, cost effective, scalable, and sustainable Solid Oxide Fuel Cell solutions, and its objective is to become one of the leading SOFC core component suppliers to power system manufacturers in Europe and in the Asia. Its current international R&D network includes contacts with scientists and stakeholders from Finland, USA, The Netherlands, Germany and Slovenia.

The company holds the patent EP2160785/WO2008/145145 “Method for preparation of the solid oxide fuel cell single cell and the named cell” (granted on 10.03.2010; international phases – US2010239959, RU2009149841) and is preparing another patent application to be filed at the beginning of 2013 and is ISO 9001/14001certified.

Elcogen is a member of The New Energy World Industry Grouping (NEW-IG, http://www.new-ig.eu) and has all necessary equipment for production facilities capable of producing up to 10 000 SOFC cells annually (600m2 of production floor-space), including:

• Equipment for production of tape-cast slurries and screen-print inks from commercially available powders,
• Tape-caster for thick film manufacturing,
• Screen printers for thin film manufacturing,
• Sintering furmaces,
• Test equipment for cell and stack testing and quality control.

The company plans to increase the manufacturing capacity of single cells to 20 000 in 2013 and up to 250 000 in 2014.