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Cellennium Receives Investment Capital To Promote Vanadium Fuel Cell Technology Globally

December 01, 2008 by Jeff Shepard

Cellennium (Thailand) Co. announced that it has received 355 million baht in investment from the MFC Energy Fund. Cellennium states that it has been developing the Vanadium Redox battery for two decades and is ready for commercial production.

Chairman Krisada Kampanatsanyakorn said that the battery will promote alternative energy at a time of volatile oil prices. "Our technology can be applied anywhere in the world, which means a global business opportunity," he said.

The Vanadium Redox battery is designed for electricity generation, conversion and storage and can be used with renewable sources including solar power and biogas from algae. Its technology has been tested in small-scale applications with a vanadium fuel-cell bicycle and an energy-saving housing project.

Pichit Akrathit, President of MFC Asset Management Plc, said the Vanadium Redox Flow technology was unique and had potential in both the national and global markets where there are few competitors. He added that investing in Cellennium would help the country reduce its dependence on imported energy and promote its renewable energy consumption.

Cellennium will use the fund’s investment in developing two 20MW power plants in Rangsit Klong 8 and at the Eco-Village Prototype Horseshoe Point project in Pattaya. It also plans further projects using vanadium fuel cells in small power plants, electric buses and mobile phone repeaters. The company is in talks with Advanced Info Service Plc about mobile phone repeaters and is now working with Thonburi Automobile in developing electric buses.

Cellennium is the third company in which MFC Energy Fund has invested. The investment of 355 million baht is around 10% of the total project value of 3.23 billion baht. Return on investment is projected at about 20% per year.

Cellennium is 20% owned by MFC, 22% by Cellennium’s founders, 37.8% by Squirrel Holdings Ltd. and 7.5% by Mitsubishi International Corp..