GenCell Announces that Billecart-Salmon is the Worlds First Champagne Producer to Test its Breakthrough Fuel Cell Power Solution

⦁ GenCell G5 fuel cell solution provides backup power and long-duration UPS to production line
⦁ Prevents voltage spikes or power loss, ensuring uninterrupted champagne production and business continuity

Reims, France -- GenCell, the fuel cell power solution provider and manufacturer, today announced that renowned champagne house, Billecart-Salmon, is the world’s first champagne producer to test GenCell’s unique G5 fuel cell backup power solution. The GenCell G5 fuel cell is providing backup power to the production line, ensuring uninterrupted champagne production and business continuity.

The GenCell G5 fuel cell solution addresses problems of energy quality on production sites. These include power outages, micro power-cuts and electrical variations, such as voltage spikes, which have a negative impact on productivity, maintenance costs and quality as deadlines can be affected. In an environment increasingly orientated towards excellence of process control, champagne producers demand efficient and reliable power supply solutions to safeguard sensitive equipment, such as robots on the production line, industrial computers and all equipment liable to electronic sensitivity from tension spikes and losses.

Based on unique fuel cell technology, the GenCell G5 provides 5kW of power with unparalleled reliability, offering wine and champagne producers their first viable alternative to existing traditional backup power solutions. In the event of a power outage or voltage spike, the GenCell G5 kicks-in immediately, preventing micro power-cuts that typically go unnoticed and delivers the essential power to keep key systems running with no interruption to production.

“Even micro power-cuts can have a significant impact on productivity,” explains Rami Reshef, GenCell CEO. “A power-cut lasting just ten milliseconds can result in approximately three hours of downtime for a champagne or wine producer. Just one hour can cost the business up to €60,000 in lost revenue, so the financial implications of not having a reliable backup power solution can be damaging to business.

“As a result, the GenCell G5 is already gaining significant interest in the champagne industry, offering the level of power reliability required to eliminate downtime and safeguard revenues.”

Contrary to conventional backup power solutions, the GenCell G5 is ideally suited to a winery setting. Fueled by hydrogen, the clean energy of the future, GenCell power solutions can be easily installed in cellars as they produce energy with no emissions, noise, odors or vibrations. The GenCell G5 requires minimal site maintenance, as it can be monitored and maintained remotely using, NOC (Network Operations Center), a proprietary software system. This enables businesses to overcome the high maintenance costs associated with traditional backup power solutions such as diesel generators.

Eric Coelho, Technical Director at Billecart-Salmon comments: “Our champagne house, which is nearing its bicentenary year, has always been conscious of environmental issues. Throughout this time, we have been able to keep the very best of our traditional production methods, while successfully integrating new cutting-edge technologies that enable us to achieve the level of excellence we aspire to. As such, the GenCell G5 fuel cell solution represented a compelling opportunity and we didn’t hesitate to use our site to validate this technology in real conditions. At this stage, we can confirm that the objective of keeping our energy flow within production consistent has been fulfilled, with the G5 providing immediate backup power when required.”

GenCell’s G5 power solution is being distributed by Gallorema, a leading equipment supplier for the champagne industry and spearheaded by renowned champagne expert, Christophe Labruyère. To learn more about the GenCell G5, visit GenCell at this year’s Viteff show (17th-20th October, Epernay, France).

About GenCell

GenCell manufactures, sells and services fuel-cell-based power solutions that provide a reliable, scalable source of 5kW electricity. Fueled by hydrogen, the clean energy of the future, the GenCell G5 long-duration UPS provides backup power for telecom, homeland security, healthcare and niche industrial markets. The GenCell G5rx utility backup solution operates as a direct source of backup power or supplements legacy backup battery systems that provide only 6-8 hours of power. It also includes a shelter that is resistant to high-voltage interference, earthquakes and EMPs. Headquartered in Israel, GenCell has a regional presence and a distribution and support network in North America, Latin America and Europe.

Download Press Release PDF here

Libby Alpert, Head of Marketing
GenCell Energy
Tel: +972 54 3266068
libbya@gencellenergy.com
www.gencellenergy.com/en

Worldwide PR for GenCell
Ben Dodson
Incus
Tel: +44 1737 215200
ben.dodson@incus-media.com
www.incus-media.com