The Industry's First Scalable Single Megawatt SOFC System

Dominovas Energy Corporation was recently hosted in Johannesburg, South Africa by the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE). Dominovas Energy's Executive Vice-President of the Fuel Cell Division. Dr. Islam delivered the lecture to present for discussion Dominovas Energy's electricity generating technology, the RUBICON™ Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) system. In attendance for the lecture included a broad spectrum of stakeholders, potential off-takers, engineers, and academics actively engaged in the power generation and distribution industry in South Africa.

In the lecture, Dr. Islam offered insight into the proprietary design of the industry's first scalable, single megawatt SOFC system. "The design of a single megawatt system lays out the foundation for scale with modular design and construction of multi-megawatt RUBICON™ system. Until now, all single megawatt systems of fuel cell generated power were comprised of an array of individual kilowatt units configured to function at a megawatt scale. The generally accepted configuration and design of megawatt systems within the industry to date have taken smaller configurations of the fuel cell stacks, generally 1kW, and pieced them together to create configurations totaling multiple kilowatts. This approach is problematic in that the generation of megawatt baseload power is inefficient and it additionally creates units that, by design, have multiple opportunities for failure which contribute to extraordinary and otherwise unnecessary repair and maintenance costs. In designing a true megawatt system, Dominovas Energy has optimized system size, production efficiency, and overall system performance and veracity," explained Dr. Islam.

The presentation broadly covered fuel cells in general, but specifically addressed Dominovas Energy's proprietary RUBICON™ SOFC system's megawatt design, its functionality, advanced engineering and manufacture timelines. By way of direct comparison to "traditional" sources of electricity generation, Dr. Islam illustrated what distinguishes the RUBICON™ as the preferred electricity generation choice of both public utilities and private sector operations in the manufacturing, hospitality, mining and agriculture industries throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Michael Watkins, COO and President of the Fuel Cell Division asserted, "As a Company, Dominovas Energy strongly believes that if you are going to be in the 'megawatt' business of energy generation, you must have a 'megawatt-true' system to provide consistent, reliable, and efficient power to Off-takers. With our proprietary, modular design of the first, true scalable, single megawatt system, we have taken the requisite steps to ensure the reliable and consistent manufacturing and delivery of multi-megawatt RUBICON™ systems on a global scale. Importantly, the system is additionally equipped with co-generation capacity which ensures further and significant production efficiency."

Additionally well received was the Company's approach in establishing an effective and progressive operating strategy, platforming the system's value proposition for commercialization, as supported by Dominovas Energy's business model, concomitant with its executed Power Purchase Agreements. 

When asked to address the significance of Dominovas Energy's presentation, the Chairman of the Power and Energy Section of the South African Institute of Electrical Engineering Max Chauke spoke in detail about the lecture. "South Africa is currently facing power challenges which are impacting negatively on our economy. Although our government is building new power plants such as the coal fired Medupi and Kusile, these will not be adequate to solve the power crisis that we face as more and more of the older plants are ending their productive life. Alternative sources of power are required and we commend government's efforts in addressing and actively seeking out alternative energy solutions." Mr. Chauke went on to say, "The SAIEE encourages the Government to continue investing in various sources of alternative energy and to specifically consider other technologies such as Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC) which have a strong value proposition along with an electrical efficiency greater than solar power and wind energy. On behalf of my colleagues, I would like to thank Dominovas Energy for the outstanding and proper presentation that was made to the SAIEE's Power and Energy section regarding the RUBICON™ SOFC technology. As the section and institute, we will continue working with Dominovas Energy along with other industry experts in order to keep abreast with the latest technologies that can be of great benefit to South Africa and her people."

Immediately following the hour presentation, the diverse audience continued to be intensely interested in the RUBICON™, and its deployment, commercial viability, and applications. The Dominovas Energy team enthusiastically engaged the audience in an interactive session and addressed questions pertaining to system design, safety, installation, and build and cost requirements for utility scale multi-megawatt fuel cell systems. This South Africa lecture marked a unique opportunity for Dominovas Energy to introduce its RUBICON™ SOFC system to an audience outside its internal engineering team, OEM partners, and current customer base.

The South African Institute of Electrical Engineers, formed in 1909, has grown to the extent that there are approximately 6000 members on its membership roll. Members are professionally engaged in the full range of engineering activities, including academic research, manufacturing, electronics, telecommunications, measurement and control, mining, and power infra-structural services. They make meaningful contributions of the quality of life to the community and to the steady advancement of technology. Their efforts are acknowledged in many countries of the world.

The Institute contributes to the common interests and welfare of the whole engineering fraternity through close co-operation with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA). It is dedicated to the interest of professional Electrical and Electronic Engineering in South Africa.