FCES appoints VP Froemmel to NEW-IG board

FuelCell Energy Solutions (FCES) has announced the appointment of its vice president of business and commercial development, Andreas Froemmel, to the executive board of New Energy World – Industry Group (NEW-IG).

NEW-IG is the industry association educating and promoting fuel cell implementation in Europe and is the sole industry partner of the European Commission and the research community within the second Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU). FCES is a provider of ultra-clean, efficient and reliable stationary fuel cell power plants.

Commenting, Pierre-Etienne Franc, chairman of NEW-IG, said: “The NEW-IG Board brings together a balanced representation of the various industry fields involved in developing fuel cells and hydrogen. This diversity reflects our broad membership. It is one of our strongest points as a European association.

“We will keep working hand-in-hand with the European Commission and the Research Grouping to unleash the full potential of the FCH 2 JU under Horizon 2020. For this new period, we will look to deliver a new generation of materials and continue improving existing prototypes as well as to demonstrate on a large scale the readiness of the technology to enter the market in the fields of transport (cars, buses and refuelling infrastructure) and energy (clean and green hydrogen production and distribution, energy storage and stationary power generation).”

Froemmel brings over 15 years of experience in the energy industry and will play an integral role in NEW-IG’s mission to advance the market development of fuel cells and hydrogen technologies in Europe. He joins five existing board members from industry to collectively educate policy makers on the benefits of fuel cell deployment in Europe.

Adding his thoughts, Froemmel said that his key objective will be to “assimilate these different needs in a manner that is complimentary to the NEW-IG policy and that is supportive of the market development and continued progress of FCH JU.”

FCH 2 JU has more than a 40% increase in funding compared to its predecessor, with a total budget of €1.33bn.