Who we are

Created in 1990, the vision of the AFC TCP is to make a significant contribution to addressing the opportunities and barriers to fuel cell commercialization by fostering the development of fuel cell technologies and their application on an international basis and conveying key messages to the community, the International Energy Agency (IEA), policy makers and general public as appropriate. The AFC TCP achieves these goals by sharing recent developments in research, development and deployment in the field of fuel cells with the Energy Technology Network (ETN) and wider audiences including policy makers. This includes dissemination activities of the Executive Committee (ExCo) and by linking activities to national stakeholders (national governments, policy makers, companies and research institutions).

Members

To date, the AFC TCP currently has 16 member countries: Austria, Canada, China, Croatia, Denmark,  France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and USA as well as 1 organizational member (sponsors: VTT Technical Research Center of Finland.

Mission

The mission of the AFC TCP is to:

  • Carry out coordinated research, technology development and systems analysis in the fuel cell application areas of stationary, transportation and portable power, as well as the technology-driven tasks of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs), solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) and electrolysis systems.
  • Conduct systems analysis work that provides data and evidence to answer key overarching questions and the modeling work, which focuses on the design, development and application of suites of open source computational fluid dynamic models of fuel cells and electrolyzers, two cross-cutting instruments are implemented in order to extend the scope.
  • Expand the information and dissemination networks which are facilitated through the IEA Energy Technology Network (ETN) which is strengthened through activities from the AFC TCP in the field of fuel cell technologies.
  • Share the knowledge and outcomes and key messages of the TCP work with the R&D community, IEA, policy makers and the public as appropriate and to further advance the state of understanding of all Contracting Parties in the field of advanced fuel cells.

Work Program

The focus of our work is the eight active Tasks (groups): members of which meet regularly to share technology and policy developments in their countries, companies and research institutions, for the benefit of everyone involved:

Technologies

Polymer electrolyte Fuel Cells

To reduce the cost and improve the performance of PEFCs, DMFCs and corresponding fuel cell systems.

Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

To assist, through international co-operation, the development of SOFC technologies.

Electrolysis

To share information and learning on electrolyzer technologies and their applications.

Applications

Fuel Cells for Stationary Applications

To understand better how stationary fuel cell systems may be deployed in energy systems.

Fuel Cells for Transportation

To understand better how fuel cells may be deployed in transportation applications.

Fuel Cells for Portable Applications

To assist, through international co-operation, the development and commercialization of portable fuel cells.

Systems Analysis

To assist the development of fuel cells through analysis work to enable a better interpretation of the current status, and the future potential, of the technology. This work will provide a competent and factual information base for technical and economic studies.

Modelling of Fuel Cell Systems

To further develop the open source modelling approaches and knowledge base to facilitate the development of fuel cell technology.

The Technology Collaboration Programme on the Research, Development and Demonstration on Advanced Fuel Cells (Advanced Fuel Cells Technology Collaboration Programme, AFC TCP) functions within a framework created by the International Energy Agency (IEA). The activities of the AFC TCP are coordinated by the IEA’s Working Party on Energy End-use Technologies (EUWP). Views, findings and publications of the AFC TCP do not necessarily represent the views or policies of the IEA Secretariat or of its individual member countries.