Oorja gets approval to sell fuel cells in Europe

Fremont, Calif.-based Oorja Protonics said today its fuel cell technology has met the CE directive for low-voltage equipment, paving the way for the stealth startup to sell its products in Europe.

Oorja's first product line, OorjaPac, is designed for forklifts using a 3.4 gallon-storage tank of methanol to power the vehicle for 10 hours.

Oorja said an independent laboratory tested the OorjaPac for safety, radiation, electrostatic discharge and other aspects, granting it the CE Marking, which is the abbreviation of Confortmité Européene. CE approval is required for such products to be sold in Europe, and the company would have to get similar approval from Underwriters Laboratories to sell in the U.S., said John Fulton, vice president of quality.

"This is relatively significant," Fulton told the Cleantech Group. "There's not really a competitor's product out there in that [methanol fuel cell] space right now."

See the methanol fuel cell fork lifts here »

The process to get CE Marking took about 18 months, he said. The company is nearing completion of testing in the U.S., Fulton said.

The company has taken some orders for the OorjaPac but isn't disclosing a release date. Fulton said Oorja is also developing other methanol fuel cells but declined to give details.

Fulton said the OorjaPac is undergoing field trials and have improved the design since first revealing the work in March (see Oorja unveils methanol fuel cell). At that time, company officials said they were on the fifth generation of the product. 

"We started another design, and we’ve done a great deal of continuous improvement," Fulton said. "We’ve done a significant number of pilots with Fortune-500 companies."

Fulton declined to name any of those partners.

The company has said one significant advantage over other fuel cell technology is that Oorja uses a readily available fuel, unlike hydrogen fuel cells.

Methanol can be produced from natural gas, landfill gases and biowaste. Oorja said its system acts as an on-board charger, and can be refueled just like a car, with a hose and nozzle from a compact methanol refueling cabinet.

Oorja is among several competitors making fuel cells for forklifts.

Latham, N.Y.-based Plug Power (Nasdaq: PLUG) made an acquisition last year to move into the forklift market (see Plug Power acquires forklift fuel cell maker Cellex).

Ontario-based Hydrogenics plans to work with fork lift maker NACCO Materials Handling Group to develop fuel cell power packs (see Ontario putting cash into cleantech).

And other companies are working on electric systems for forklifts. Scottsdale, Ariz.-based ECOtality (OTC: ETLY) acquired Minit-Charger, an Irvine, Calif., fast charging company, late last year (see ECOtality grabs another fast charger co.).

The company has raised nearly $21 million in funding from Sequoia Capital, DAG Ventures, McKenna Management and Spring Ventures, according to regulatory filings (see Another week, another three Khosla biofuel investments).