Oxford, March — Asia market access specialist Intralink has been chosen by Aim-listed AFC Energy to help drive the development of its business in South Korea.
AFC Energy (AIM: AFC), the industrial fuel cell power company, recently received an investment of almost £9m from Ervington Investments, whose beneficial owner is Chelsea FC owner Roman Ambramovich.
AFC has identified Korea as a key market and is establishing a physical presence in Seoul through Intralink’s Surrogate Sales Program™.
Intralink will use its extensive knowledge of the region and high level contacts to provide AFC Energy with market development and sales support in one of its key target markets, East Asia. The partnership will help AFC Energy establish a firm presence in the region, maximise its reach and seize on the potentially substantial market opportunity there.
South Korea is one of the countries currently providing subsidy for electricity generated from fuel cells and as such represents an attractive early opportunity for AFC Energy.
The venture’s first objective is to build on existing and develop new relationships with prospective industrial customers and enter Energy Supply Company (ESCO) agreements to supply energy from AFC Energy’s fuel cell systems.
AFC Energy’s CEO, Ian Williamson, commented: “This is an exciting development and represents a major step in AFC Energy’s growth as a business, following recent achievements including reaching a six-month electrode life and the delivery of our first system to ICL.
“During the rigorous process we followed prior to selecting Intralink, we were impressed by the company’s ability to access key potential customers at the appropriate level in what is one of our key markets.”
Jeremy Shaw, Intralink’s Managing Director in Korea added: “South Korea has become one of the most important markets for fuel cell-related technologies, and we are delighted to have been chosen by AFC, who we are expecting to become a major player in this space.
About AFC Energy
Founded in 2006, AFC Energy plc is re-engineering proven alkaline fuel cell technology to reduce the cost of electricity. Alkaline fuel cells have been used on US and Russian manned space missions for decades to provide electrical power and drinking water. By using modern materials, design tools and manufacturing processes at scale, AFC Energy is developing fuel cells that will compete with conventional technologies such as turbines for electrical power generation. Today, AFC Energy is pursuing opportunities in several sectors where hydrogen is readily available including the chlorine, clean coal and waste-to-energy industries as well as applications for distributed/back-up power.
About Intralink
Intralink provides low risk, cost effective and accelerated market access to China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. The company's core service – the Surrogate Sales Program™ – provides a facility for companies to generate revenues to the point where there is an economic and practical case for establishing a local subsidiary or committing to a strategic partnership. Intralink, which was established in 1990, has its head office in the UK, project offices in Shanghai, Tokyo, Seoul and Taipei, and sales offices in the United States and Europe.
Contact
UK and Europe: Alex Gover +44 20 8960 3817, alex.gover@intralink-uk.com
North America: Alan Mockridge +1 408 727 3674 alan.mockridge@intralink-us.com