BlueGen® is the world’s most efficient small-scale electricity generator.  About the size of washing machine, it uses ceramic fuel cells to convert natural gas into power and heat.  The power is used for the home and also exported to the power grid.  The heat is used to produce hot water in a separate tank. 

Its high efficiency is matched with low carbon dioxide emissions (approximately two-thirds lower than the Victorian power grid).  With BlueGen you can:

• Generate electricity more than twice as efficiently as the current power grid – plus, with the added benefit of heat recovery;
    - In Victoria, BlueGen can typically save up to 14.5 tonnes of carbon per year
    - In New South Wales, BlueGen can save almost 11 tonnes of carbon per year
  (a typical home solar PV system will save three tonnes of carbon per year)
• Produce more than twice the electricity needed to power an average home over the course of a year, the excess power is exported back to the grid.
• Generate heat that makes up to 200 litres of hot water a day - enough to meet the daily hot water needs of the average home
• Use up to 95% less water than brown coal-fired power stations to generate the same amount of electricity.

BlueGen® is a natural gas powered ‘grid connected’ generator which means:

• Natural Gas…You need to be connected to the reticulated natural gas supply (main gas) – BlueGen currently doesn’t operate on LPG or bottled gas
• Electricity…You need to be connected to the electricity grid at all times – as the electricity you don’t use is exported to the grid
• BlueGen also needs a source of water and connection to the internet
• Typically for Australia, it requires a suitable space outdoors protected from direct sunlight

BlueGen® will still be connected to the power grid.
During peak times in the morning and evening, the home will need more electricity than what BlueGen can produce, so electricity will be imported from the grid.  At other times, it will export to the grid.

BlueGen® operates constantly, generating power 24/7 all year-round, regardless of weather.  Its typical output is 1.5 kW of electricity - that’s 36 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per day.

To put this into context:

• An average home in south-eastern Australia uses about 7,000 kWh of electricity per year
• If BlueGen runs constantly at about 1.5 kW all year, it would generate around 13,000 kWh of electricity
• So BlueGen can generate almost double what the average home uses – the rest can be exported to the grid

You will need an agreement with an energy retailer to buy back the power that BlueGen® exports to the grid.  We are currently in discussions with energy retailers and Governments to establish the framework for these agreements. As part of purchasing a BlueGen, our distributors or Ceramic Fuel Cells can provide advice on this.

You will need a hot water tank.  While it’s technically possible to connect BlueGen® to an existing hot water tank, it’s much simpler and easier to install a new hot water tank, which has been designed specially to integrate with BlueGen.  

BlueGen® can be installed in any building with a connection to mains natural gas, the power grid and mains water.  This includes homes, shops, commercial buildings, and factories.  The building needs a suitable space inside or outside where BlueGen can be installed (depending on your country & climate).  Ideally the building would also use the heat from BlueGen to provide hot water.

BlueGen® produces excess heat that can be captured from the exhaust and used to heat up to 200 litres of domestic hot water per day - that’s enough for an average Australian family of four.  Typically, most customers install a supplementary gas booster to ensure the home always has enough hot water.

Yes. The benefit of this type of installation is that the BlueGen® unit continues to provide heat for the water tank during the night.  Solar hot water systems may be offered with a gas booster to ensure a continuous supply of hot water, even if the BlueGen is not generating electricity (e.g. during maintenance times).

Typically, when operating at normal capacity and generating 1.5 kW of electricity, BlueGen® uses about 9.5 Megajoules (MJ) of gas per hour.  To put this into context, most modern boilers or water heaters use 3-4 times more gas than BlueGen.

The product offering and pricing models for BlueGen® are set by our distributors.  

As costs are higher in small volumes, early units are being marketed to corporate customers, such as energy utilities and Governments for demonstration projects.  As costs come down, the product will be marketed to residential customers.

BlueGen® units are available now to showcase sites, green buildings, Governments, Local Councils, and other commercial customers, through BlueGen distributors.  To locate a distributor in your region, visit our ‘find a distributor page’.  BlueGen units are not currently being marketed to residential customers in Australia.

CFCL and our distributors manage all installation requirements.  BlueGen® will be installed by a licensed plumber and electrician.  Customers cannot install it themselves.  It connects directly to the existing gas line, so there should be no need to change your gas line.  

No, neither.  The fuel cell itself has no moving parts and creates electricity in a silent electrochemical reaction.  BlueGen® has full European CE safety approvals and has approvals for household use under the Australian safety standards for gas appliances.  BlueGen includes a grid-connect inverter which is compliant with AS 4777 and approved by the Clean Energy Council.

BlueGen® is designed to last as long as a hot water unit – typically 10-15 years.  This depends on a number of factors, such as the operating time and conditions, quality of the input fuel and water and so on.  Basic maintenance items are to change the water filter, air filter and gas de-sulphuriser.  Major maintenance items are to change the fuel cell stack.  BlueGen units will be sold with a support and maintenance service to cover these items.

For further information about BlueGen:

 - Download the product brochure (2MB)

 - Please contact your nearest distributor  

 - Fill out our enquiry form 

 - Or contact us directly: info@cfcl.com.au